The Obscure Truth
by LilDreamyGirl87
Summary: Rin ran away from Sesshoumaru's castle during her 18th birtday's party. Some creature attacked her and she was found deserted in the forest, hurt. What happened during that night? [SessRin, InuKag, MirSan, KouAya]
1. The Dreadful Beginning

**Disclaimer**: I do not, I repeat, do not own Inuyasha!

**Author's note**: I have been thinking about writing an Inuyasha fanfic for a long time, but didn't do it until now. This is my first Inuyasha fanfic, so please support it. Note: I revised some parts of this chapter on September 26, 2005.

In this story, Rin is 18; Kagome is 23, Sango is 25, Miroku is 26, Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru are several hundred years old. It's easier to write the story this way. Okay, now here's the first chapter of the story. Enjoy!

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**The Obscure Truth**

Chapter 1

The Dreadful Beginning

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The sun had just risen from the horizon. The warm sunlight was striking the white floor. In a large room, with white walls, white ceilings, and white floor, a young girl with long black hair was combing her hair. The room was almost vacant, only a big soft bed in the middle, one wooden table, and one mirror on the table. The girl had large dark brown eyes, almost the color of ebony. She looked really pure and innocent, but a hint of loneliness showed on her face. However, there was still some cheerfulness, which she used to have as a child, left in her eyes. She was very beautiful. This is Rin, in her room in Lord Sesshoumaru's Western Castle. Sesshoumaru was the Lord of Western Land, also Rin's master. 

Rin stood up from the chair and put on a white kimono with pink flowers on it. She tied a white ribbon onto her hair. Then, she sat back to the chair and started to put on some makeup. First, she put on a light pink lipstick. Then, she brushed pink tint on her cheek and eyelids. She only put on light makeup, which only made her look more innocent.

Today was Rin's eighteenth birthday. Tonight, there was going to be a party for her eighteenth birthday. It was the first time she was going to attend a party in the lobby of Lord Sesshoumaru's Western Castle. It was also the first time that other demons had a chance to take a look at her. Rin sighed. She had been very lonely for the past few years in the castle. Sesshoumaru didn't allow her to go out on her own, or even attend any meetings other demons. Therefore, Rin was pretty much isolated from the rest of the world.

Rin was now standing by the window. The gentle breeze blew strands of her hair into the air. The gentle wind also brought out some of Rin's most private memories. Rin lowered her head and sighed. "Time passes by so fast…" She mumbled at the thought that she was now eighteen years old. "My past… is terrible. Am I going to find bliss in my future?" Rin pondered. She was now eighteen years old, which means she should be thinking about her future instead of just staying in the castle and do nothing all day.

As Rin thought of her past, she really wanted to forget all the days before she met Sesshoumaru. She was an orphan.Her parents and her brother were killed by bandits. To her, bandits and humans were much more scarier than demons.The villagers treated her really badly. Not only did they pretend she wasn't in the village by not taking care of her or provide food for a little girl, they also beat her up if she tried to steal fish or other food from them. It wasn't her fault. She was only a child, and she couldn't afford anything, including the food. Luckily, her suffering ended after the wolves attacked the village and she was saved by Sesshoumaru.

Rin remembered the first time she saw Sesshoumaru, he was lying on the green grass under a tree in the forest. She wanted to give him food, but he was so aggressive and scary. But she didn't back away. She still went and got food for him, even though he probably never ate it. Rin smile softly at the first impression of Sesshoumaru. 'He was so tall and so handsome, but he was very cold. He even yelled at me and wanted me to leave him alone.' Rin commented on her first impression of Sesshoumaru.

Then, she remembered her village was attacked by a pack of wolf demons. She was terrified by the scary wolves. They had sharp teeth with saliva dripping down their mouth, as if they were extremely hungry. Their brown furs and sharp eyes, plus their sharp claws scared her a lot. So, she started running away, trying to escape. The only image she saw as she was running was the image of Sesshoumaru. Rin reached out her hands, silently yelling in her heart 'Help me! Save me from those big bad wolves! Don't leave me alone in the world…' But no one heard her silent prayers. She was still attacked and killed by the wolves. It was until later that she learned from Jaken that Sesshoumaru had used his sword to save her life. From then on, Rin decided to follow Sesshoumaru as her master. She wanted to repay him for saving her life.

Rin raised her head slightly, but her eyes were still fixed at a far point, lost in her memories. She got to travel around with her Lord Sesshoumaru, play with Jaken when she was bored, and also talk to Ah and Un when no one else was with her. Travelling with Lord Sesshoumaru and Jaken was the happiest moments in her life. On many occasions, Sesshoumaru had saved her life, again and again. He saved her when Naraku kidnapped her; he saved her from falling off the cliff when Jaken fell ill and she was trying to get the medicine to cure Jaken; he saved her from Suikotsu, one of the Band of Seven; he saved her again when she was captured by a demon and right after that from the monks who forced her to go back to the human world. It was her choice to stick with Sesshoumaru. She wanted to be with him, forever.

But her lord Sesshoumaru changed drastically. Ever since Sesshoumaru successfully build his own empire after defeating Naraku along with Inuyasha, he had confined her to the castle and especially her room, where she was standing in right now. It was as if he was afraid someone would steal her away or something. This room was also the only room that looked bright and pure, with the white backgrounds. All the other rooms in the castle were either black or dark brown, making the castle seemed creepy and sullen. Sesshoumaru forbade Rin to wonder outside of the castle. He didn't send any demons or humans to take care of her, so the only creature she could talk to was Jaken. Sesshoumaru might go out for weeks or even months at time, and Jaken would always go with him, leaving her behind in the castle. Sesshoumaru also forbade Rin to go out of her room when there were other demons in the castle for meeting. Rin had always asked Sesshoumaru about the reasons he confined her to the castle, but he never answer her. It was no big deal, because she was used to Sesshoumaru ignoring her all the times. Whenever she said something or asked him something, he usually just kept silence, as if she wasn't there. She didn't feel hurt or anything when she was still a kid, but as she grown into teenager, the coldness of Sesshoumaru always hurts her feelings.

As she became more and more beautiful each day, she had less and less chance of seeing Sesshoumaru. He never came to see her on his own. He was often out of the castle doing some other things, but he didn't allow her to go with him. He seemed so high up in the sky and she was unable to reach him. He also seemed more cold and cruel towards her. Rin remembered that once she sneaked out of the castle in hope of finding Sesshoumaru, because he went out for two months without coming back to the castle. Unlucky for Rin, she was caught out of the castle by Sesshoumaru himself. He was on his way back to the castle, after a big battle with his half-brother Inuyasha. The winner obviously wasn't Sesshoumaru, for he was in a horrifying mood. Everyone who saw him would want to stay away from him. Rin was caught sneaking out of the castle on her way to some villages nearby, so Sesshoumaru punished her severely. No, she wasn't beaten up or abused. She was not allowed to leave her own room for one month and not allowed to see anyone, including Jaken. To Rin, that punishment was the worst she could have gotten. She used to be very energetic and cheerful as a child. She liked to run around in the garden, not being locked up in a room. She had already been lonely in the castle, but the cruel punishment took away her rights to even make fun of Jaken and talk to Ah and Un. After that incident, Rin never try to go out of the castle anymore. She seemed more quiet, but there was still some cheerfulness in her.

Sometimes Rin tried to talk to Sesshoumaru, more often he would just cut her off and said he had something more important to do than "talking with a mere human girl." Rin's heart was pierced into pieces when Sesshoumaru used the words "mere human girl." She knew how much Sesshoumaru despised humans, but if he really despise her so much, why kept her around in the castle? Rin was really confused by his attitude. She used to think, "If he doesn't care about me and ignore me everyday, why doesn't he just let me go? Why does he confine me to the castle?... But then again, even if he lets me go, I won't go…"

"When did my feelings for him changed?" Rin questioned herself. As a child, she looked up to Sesshoumaru as someone who protects her and cares for her. But one thing was for sure, she never looked at him as a father.Somehow, as she was growing up, Sesshoumaru became more and more important in her heart. She finally admitted to herself that she loves her lord. Yes, she loves him. That was why she had been looking forward to her eigthteen birthday for a few years already. She wanted to grow up, so she could truely be together with her lord...

_Swoosh!_ Rin's door to her bedroom was suddenly slid open, banging to the wall as if the person was in a hurry. Rin's thoughts about her past were interrupted by the sudden noise and she jumped. She turned around quickly and saw someone that she didn't know. A confused look appeared in Rin's big brown eyes. She examined the person in her room, while asking, "W-who are y-you?" She couldn't help but stuttered. No one had dared to enter her room all these years. She was a bit frightened by this stranger. "W-why a-are you in… in my r-room?"

The 'person,' or rather the demon, who just bumped into Rin's room was extremely big in size and tall. He seemed to store a lot of strength in his body. He had long black hair, all the way down to his knees. His hair looked really messy, and his personality was probably disorganized. His ears were pointy and they twitched every now and then if he detected any sounds. His eyes were the crimson red color, looking lustfully at Rin. Rin's eyes widened when she saw the look in the demon. She was frightened. She didn't know what this demon wanted. Apparently, she guessed that this was one of the guests for her party tonight, since he was a dog demon as well. 'He probably got here early, but… why is he here? He shouldn't be here…' Rin started to move along the wall toward the door. She wanted to be by the door so she could escape if the demon was to do anything to her.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk… What do we have here? It's such a pretty young girl. Your blood must be fresh and pure. And look at that body…" The demon shook his head playfully and continued. "Tsk, tsk… so beautiful. What is an innocent young girl doing here, hmm?" He jumped toward Rin suddenly.

"Ah!" Rin screamed. She dodged him and ran toward the door. Just when her hand was about to reach the door, and she was just a few seconds away from sliding the door open and run into the hallway when a vigorous hand caught her wrist and threw her onto the ground far away from the door. "Ouch!" Rin shrieked in pain as her body hit the floor hard.

"Hmph! Where do you think you're going?" The demon seemed mad. He walked toward Rin and pulled her up by grabbing her arm. "Say… why don't you be my mate? It would be pleasurable to have such a pretty girl as a mate, even though you are only a rotten human. I despise human… but a human mate as beautiful as you… hmm… I can think about it…" The demon started smirking evilly at Rin.

"W-what do you want from m-me?" Rin managed to whisper. Her body was now aching. 'This was terrible… why is this happening on my eighteenth birthday?' Rin tried to struggle, but her struggle only angered the demon. He kicked her in the stomach and tossed her onto the ground again. "Ah… Lord Sesshoumaru, help…" Rin uttered the name of her lord, hoping that he would appear and help her out once more. "Lord Sesshoumaru…" As her vision became more and more blurry, she could still hear the demon's laughter, which sounded like the laughter came from far far away. The last thing she saw was a figure walking towards her, slowly. Then, she fell into the abyss of unconsciousness as everything just blacked out…

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**Author's note:** What's going to happen to Rin? What will happen at her 18th birthday's party? These questions will be answer in the next few chapters. All right, I know this chapter is short, but hey, it's the first chapter! The later chapters will probably be longer. Also in the future chapters, the main characters of the anime Inuyasha would also be very important in this fiction. Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango, and Kikyou would definitely be in the story, and possibly Kouga (I haven't decide yet). 

So, what do you think about the story? Good (reader smiling), Bad ("Boo!" reader responded), Terrible, Continue the story, not continue the story, "take this garbage off the site" (yelled somebody), or what? Please review! I'm sure if you write a story, you would like some feedback, right? Remember, reviews are appreciated. Thanks!


	2. The Moonless Night

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha and all the characters in the anime.

**Author's note:** (T.T)… So far, I only got 1 review (sobs…) I'm such a bad writer, wasn't I? I know that my grammar is not that good, but I'm trying to improve, so please forgive me for bad grammar. However, reviews are really appreciated… Anyway, on with the story… Hope you enjoy!

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**The Obscure Truth**

Chapter 2

The Moonless Night

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Rin awoke alone. Her eyes suddenly shot opened as all the memories of the morning rushed back to her. She just remembered that a ruthless demon came into her room and hit her. She wasn't sure what that demon wanted to do to her, but she was certainly frightened. Cold sweat wetted Rin's white kimono.

She used her frightened black eyes to observe where she was. She was still in her room, on her soft bed. All she saw was her white and almost vacant room. There was no sign of that horrible demon. "Phew…" Rin sighed in relief. 'But where is that demon anyway?' She stood up from her bed and walked to the window. "Oh my god! The sky is dark already? What time is it?" Rin yelled out. She rushed to the door and opened it, hoping to catch Jaken somewhere to ask him about her party, since there were no servants around her except Jaken.

Just when Rin opened the door and tried to rush out, she bumped into a muscular chest. "Ouch…" Rin mumbled as she fell back onto the ground. No hand caught her when she fell, and no hand helped her up. Rin frowned and as she stood up, was rubbing her elbows that hit the ground. She looked up at the 'thing' that bumped 'into' her, or so she thought.

Rin's eye widened after she saw what or who the 'thing' is. She quickly bowed her head and apologized. "Lord Sesshoumaru, I'm very sorry." Rin said. She had bumped into her lord, the only Lord of the Western Land. He was also the one who used Tensaiga to save her after she was killed by wolves at the age of seven.

Sesshoumaru looked at Rin with his emotionless golden eyes. His white smooth hair was hanging on his back, swinging as he came into the room. The purple moon on his forehead and the two magenta stripes on each side of his cheek only made him look more beautiful. Sesshoumaru entered Rin's room while observing her.

"If you are feeling better now, go prepare for your birthday party. It will start in half an hour." Sesshoumaru ordered. His voice was calm and emotionless.

"Lord Sesshoumaru, what happened to the demon that ran into my room without my permission?" Rin asked her lord, hoping to find out that her lord had saved her again. She was in love with her Lord Sesshoumaru, but she also knew that her love was probably one-sided, since he despised human and couldn't even stand his half-demon brother Inuyasha.

"Dead." Sesshoumaru only gave a simple one-word answer to Rin. Then, seeing Rin was fine, he turned around and was about to leave.

Rin gasped at the answer. 'Dead? How?' Rin wondered. "But Lord Sesshoumaru, how did that demon die? The last thing I remembered was being knocked out by that demon, and wasn't he one of the guest for my party? So why would he be…" She didn't get to finish the sentence when Sesshoumaru cut her off.

"Enough with the questions. I killed him. He had no permission to wonder around the castle, especially not into your room. I passed by and saw that he knocked you out, so I killed him, despite the fact that he was a guest. Now get ready for the party." Sesshoumaru explained, although his voice sounded a bit annoyed at the questions Rin was asking. Then, Sesshoumaru left to give Rin some privacy of changing and getting ready.

Rin couldn't move or say anything for several seconds after Sesshoumaru left. She was partly glad and her Lord Sesshoumaru had saved her again. She was glad that the demon didn't do anything too badly to her. But she couldn't help to feel a little sorry for that demon, even though she disliked him. Rin was also shocked by Sesshoumaru's answer. She always thought that Sesshoumaru wasn't as cruel as the rumors she heard. He was the one who saved her life. He took her with him and protected her. He even went to save her from Naraku. Then, he brought her back to the castle and prevented others from harming her. To Rin, Sesshoumaru may act cold and emotionless, but she believed that he still has a heart. Besides, she had never seen Sesshoumaru kill others. But just then, he answered her that he killed the demon, in her room! This was the first time Sesshoumaru said or did kill a creature. 'How can he sound so emotionless when he spoke about killing? He sounded like that was a normal-everyday routine he did…' Rin frowned a bit at the thought. She didn't want Sesshoumaru to be cruel and heartless, like the rumors.

"Oh, I have to get ready!" Rin yelled. She rushed to her closet and picked out another kimono, since the one she wore now was wrinkled and wet. She picked out another white kimono, with light purple flowers on it. She put on the new kimono and rushed to the table, forgetting everything bad that had happened this morning and the moment before Sesshoumaru left her room.

"Oh, my hair is messed up…" Rin whined. She took off the white ribbon she tied on her hair this morning and picked up the brush. She started brushing her long black hair and tied another white and light purple ribbon onto her hair, matching the kimono she wore. Then, seeing the tints on her face she put on with makeup was still very pretty, she only took out the really-light-pink lipstick and put that on. Rin looked into the mirror and smiled. She looked so beautiful. The happy face of a child was back on her face. She looked as innocent as she was when she was only a child, but only more mature and beautiful. "Yay, now I'm ready for my eighteenth birthday's party!"

Rin walked out of her room into the hallway. The hallway was dark and shady. In fact, her room was the only white room in Sesshoumaru's castle. Her room was also the purest looking room compared to other rooms with black or gray color. But Rin was used to it already, so she just walked straight down the hallway to the lobby where the party was to be held. She was excited and happy to attend a party. It was her first time attending any 'meetings' with other people, humans or demons. She had forgotten about the dreadful incident this morning. This was also her personality, always looked forward with a cheerful smile on her face. She didn't like to remember the sad and unhappy memories, maybe just once per year was enough…

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A dark figured slipped into the kitchen. He seemed like a dog demon, probably one of the guests for tonight's party. There was no one in the kitchen since Jaken had just gathered them in another room near the kitchen, ordering them what to do on the party. Jaken was telling the part-time servants (since Sesshoumaru didn't want any servants in his castle) who to serve and what not to do in the party.

The figure walked lightly and secretively near the boiling water. The pot for the water was huge, for there were at least one hundred guests in the party today. All of the guests that Sesshoumaru invited were the leader of some demon tribes. Those guests weren't that weak, but they weren't strong compared to the Lord of the Western Land—Sesshoumaru.

The figure took out little bag containing white powder. This powder was had no smell and no color. He put the powder into the pot of boiling water, knowing that this pot of water would later be used for tea that every guest and Sesshoumaru himself would drink on the party. Just to be safe, he also poured the same white powder into the bottles of wine in the kitchen.

After every type of drinks was contaminated with the powder, the figure grinned evilly. 'Not even the great Sesshoumaru would detect this kind of powder. They have no smell and no taste. Muhahaha…' The figure laughed evilly in his heart.

Then, he quickly dodged out of the window as he heard the footsteps of the part-time servants coming towards the kitchen. He must not be seen in the kitchen. He had to go back to the lobby before Sesshoumaru or other demons became suspicious of him.

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When Rin finally reached the entrance of the lobby, she saw Jaken standing outside the entrance with a look of impatience. Rin giggled at the funny looking green toad demon, especially with his impatient expressions and the stumping of his feet. The short toad demon was the only servant Sesshoumaru allowed in the castle and allowed to be in contact with Rin. Jaken also appeared to be waiting for someone.

"Hee hee… Jaken, are you waiting for someone? Is the person late?" Rin walked up to Jaken. She always liked to ask Jaken questions, sometime out of curiosity, but sometime just to annoy Jaken to see his funny reactions.

"Rin! Why are you so late?" Jaken looked annoyed at Rin. He didn't really like Rin. To him, Rin was only a human. What he didn't understand was why would Sesshoumaru save Rin and let her stay with him all these years? However, Jaken wasn't exactly despising Rin. He was only Jealous that Rin had a special place in Sesshoumaru's heart, yet she was only a human. That's why Jaken's tone was never too friendly to Rin.

"You're waiting for me, Jaken?" Rin looked surprise. She lowered her head to look at the toad, who used to be about the same height as she was as a child.

"Of course! What do you think? Now hurry up! Everyone's waiting inside." Before Rin could response, Jaken had walked into the lobby towards Lord Sesshoumaru, who was sitting at the end of the long lobby on the top of several steps of stairs. All the demon guests were sitting at the both sides of the lobby. Each demon had his own little table with food, tea or wine on top. They all sat on a pillow on the floor.

Rin was a bit hesitated. She had never seen so many demons at once. If she enters the lobby, surely every eye of those several hundred demons would turn towards her. She didn't want to extract so much attention at once. 'But this is my party… why should I feel hesitated?' Rin encouraged herself. 'Besides, Lord Sesshoumaru is here. He will protect me. What happened this morning will not happen again.' Rin put on her best and most innocent smile. When she was about to step into the lobby, Sesshoumaru's voice reached her first.

"Rin. What are you waiting for? Come in." Although his voice may sound emotionless, there was a hint of impatience in it.

Rin quickly bowed her head at Sesshoumaru, who was very far away from her. Then, she raised her head and walked into the lobby. At once, almost every eye of the demons shot towards her. The lobby became silent instantly. Some demons had disgust in their eyes, some had amazement of the young human girl's beauty, a few didn't even bother looking at the mere human girl, and some had lust in their eyes. Rin felt uncomfortable with all the attention she got, especially from demons since the morning incident was ugly. She still felt a bit unsafe from the demons. Even Sesshoumaru himself had amazement in his eyes. 'She's no beautiful today' He thought, without showing anyone his thoughts.

Rin walked down the long path of the lobby, which seemed to take forever. Finally, she stopped in front of her Lord Sesshoumaru's desk. "Lord Sesshoumaru… where should I sit?" Rin asked quietly, without raising her eyes.

To her disappointment, it was Jaken who answered her question. "You can sit next to Lord Sesshoumaru. This is your party, you know. So you are partially the master for today's party, hence you should sit next to the real master…" Jaken was going on and on, until Sesshoumaru glared at him. Rin didn't really listen to the rest of Jaken's 'speech' after she found out where she was to be seated. Her cheerful mood plumped down a bit at the thought that perhaps Sesshoumaru didn't even want to talk to her, a lowly human girl… It wasn't her fault to think like this. After all, Sesshoumaru had been pretty much ignoring her for the past few years. What she didn't know was Sesshoumaru actually cares about her, but he just couldn't overcome his abhor of the human race. He had been so disgusted when his father married that human woman, who was also Inuyasha's mother. After all those years of hatred towards human, it was hard for Sesshoumaru to accept mating a human girl.

"Yes…" Rin obeyed. She walked up the stairs and sat down at the white pillow prepared for her next to her lord. Now, she was facing the entrance of the lobby. She saw that there were at least one hundred demons sitting on both her right hand and left hand sides.

"My dear guests, today is Rin's eighteenth birthday. I appreciated all of you to come here. Let the dinner begins." Sesshoumaru announced with his emotionless tone. The welcoming speech from his mouth didn't sound very welcoming. In fact, a lot of the demon leaders felt a chill went through their spines, as if telling them to behave themselves at the dinner.

Rin poked Jaken, who was sitting behind her. "Jaken… I thought this is my party… Isn't there suppose to be some dancing and singing? This seems so… serious. Everyone seems so nervous…" Rin was a bit confused. Although she had never been to a real party, she heard stories about it as a child from the villagers. She heard about marriage ceremony party and birthday party. But her party seemed like a funeral, or if looked at it cheerfully, just a boring dinner.

"Shhh! What are you talking about? Don't insult the party Lord Sesshoumaru gave you!" Jaken was horrified. He was afraid that if Sesshoumaru heard what Rin just said, he might get really furious.

Their conversations were interrupted as weak demons, who were now serving as part-time servants, came into the lobby with dishes of delicious food. They went to every table and put down the plate for every demon lords. The first servant came to Sesshoumaru's table, of course. The dish included delicious meat with rice, a cup of tea, and a cup of wine.

After the servants left, the guests began to eat. Many of them just took up the piece of meat and started biting largely into the meat, while the juices flew everywhere. Then, they would stuff a mouthful of rice into their mouths and drank a large cup of tea while the rice and meat were still in their mouths. Rin was shocked at how those demon lords ate. They ate as if they had been starved for many days, or even months! Rin turned around and looked at Sesshoumaru. He was using his fork, knife, and spoon to eat, just like a gentleman. Sesshoumaru would use knife and fork to cut a piece of meat. Use the spoon to take up rice and meat and put into his mouth. After chewing, then swallowing, he would then take a sip wine. Rin smiled slightly at this. 'Lord Sesshoumaru is much better than all those messy demon lords… tee hee…' She was giggling at the superiority of Sesshoumaru when compared to all those demons during dinner.

"What's so funny, Rin? Why don't you eat your food?" Sesshoumaru asked. He had noticed that Rin's shoulder was moving slightly up and down, as if giggling about something. Then, he saw that Rin didn't start eating yet.

"Nothing, Lord Sesshoumaru…" Rin answered. She tried to stop giggling. Then, she took a spoonful of rice and put into her small mouth. "This taste delicious!" Rin mumbled while chewing. Her mood was now restored to normal happiness.

Just when she was about to put a piece of meat into her mouth, a demon with dark brown hair and red eyes stood out into the middle of the lobby, catching the attentions of every person in the lobby. He was a dog demon, with his ears on top of his brown hair. Rin put her spoon down and looked at the demon with confusion. Sesshoumaru just used his golden eyes to glare at that demon.

"I demand to know why did you kill my brother?" The demon lord directed the question to Sesshoumaru. However, he was glaring at Rin with his crimson red eyes felt with hatred. "I saw everything that happened this morning!"

"Hmph… I know. I spare your life this morning for not interrupting what I was doing. Isn't that enough?" Sesshoumaru answered. He also stopped eating. The lobby immediately became silent. A lot of the demons began to sweat coldly. They knew better than to talk to the Great Lord of the Western Land like that.

"All my brother wanted was a mate. Besides, why do you keep a lowly human girl with you? Why not just give her to some other demon as a mate?" The dog demon growled. He wanted to get revenge for his brother. Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to challenge Sesshoumaru directly. He would get his revenge from torturing Rin. Rin felt a shiver ran down her spine at the hateful stares of that crimson eyes. Unconsciously, she moved a little closer to Sesshoumaru for protection. Although she had been with Sesshoumaru for a long time, he never taught her anything about fighting. Therefore, she was still a weak human girl without the real ability to protect herself against the powerful demons.

"Yea, Lord Sesshoumaru, why not give her away as a mate to your loyal demons? You are not thinking about mating her, are you? You should know that a high ranked demon such as yourself should never mate a disgusting human girl. Why not give her to me? Hahaha…" A fat demon with long gray hair stood up into the middle of the lobby as well. His ugly rat face revealed that he was a rat demon. Rin was hurt when the rat demon said the words 'disgusting human girl.' Her eyes swelled up with tears, but she tried to hold the tears back.

Sesshoumaru stared coldly at the two demons in the middle of the room. Then, slowly, he glared at all of the demons in the lobby, one by one, as a warning. He had sent many shivers through many demons in the lobby. Then, he opened his mouth and said with an icy voice, "I shall decide who to give Rin to, and none of you have the rights to teach me what to do. All you have to do is ask for Rin, and I will consider your request." Sesshoumaru then turned to the dog demon and said with an even colder voice, "As for you, your brother deserved to die for disobeying my orders of not to wonder in the castle, especially not to go near Rin's room. If you would like to unite with your dim-witted brother in hell, I can help you." Lastly, Sesshoumaru turned to the fat ugly rat demon, "Disgusting human girl? Then why do you want Rin as a mate? You are no one to be telling me what to do with my life."

The dog demon and the rat demon immediately started to tremble. They finally realized that they shouldn't have talked to the great Sesshoumaru like that. "I'm very sorry, my lord." Both demons said at once. They bowed their head timidly and crawled back to their tables. The lobby was still silent, as all the demons dared not to make a noise. They all knew that Sesshoumaru was warning them not to lay their hands on Rin. They also knew that Sesshoumaru didn't even want to listen to their request for mating Rin, especially when Sesshoumaru glared at them slowly as a warning and spoke with such an icy tone. 'Those two idiots are fools…' Thought many demons.

However, the only one who didn't understand Sesshoumaru was Rin. Her heart sank to the bottom of darkness when she heard Sesshoumaru said he would decide who to give her to. She didn't pay attention to what Sesshoumaru said for the rest of the conversations. Her mind was clouded by sorrow and she didn't realize that Sesshoumaru was only warning the other demons not to touch her. She didn't know that Sesshoumaru wanted to keep her in the castle because he cared for her. 'He's going to give me to some ugly demon as a present or something… How could he? Don't I mean anything to him? Am I only a mere human like every demon believed? Is this party just a way to advertise me to other demons so they would ask for me as a mate? No! I don't accept that! I'm not going to accept that!' Rin thought angrily and heartbrokenly.

Rin's tears finally fall down her cheeks, which now became colorless and very pale. Every bits of happiness and cheerfulness vanished from her black eyes. She slammed the table lightly and suddenly stood up. "I'm not going to accept that!" She yelled, and than she ran down the steps towards the entrance of the lobby.

"Stop, Rin! Where do you think you are going? You are not allowed to leave until the end of the dinner." Sesshoumaru ordered. Although his voice may be emotionless, his golden eyes became worried. He saw Rin's tears and the disappointment in her eyes. "I need to talk to you after the dinner."

But Rin shook her head as she ran towards the entrance. She didn't want to listen to Sesshoumaru. 'I don't want to know who he had decided to give me to as a present…' More tears came out of her eyes, she couldn't stop crying. Her heart was hurting her badly, as if her heart had been torn into pieces.

"Jaken, go look after Rin." Sesshoumaru ordered. He couldn't leave the dinner right now. He must at least escort all these demons out of his castle. He didn't want any incident similar to this morning's incident happening in his castle because of the demon guests.

"Yes, my lord." Jaken said. He quickly stood up and then grabbed his staff. Then, he trotted after Rin out of the lobby.

"This will be the last dish. After you finish, the dinner is over. Everyone shall leave my castle at once after the dinner." Sesshoumaru said coldly, still staring at the two trouble-making demons. He took up the cup of wine and drank it swiftly. He didn't have the mood for anything right now; hence he didn't notice a pair of white eyes staring at him with a large, evil grin on his face after the white eyes saw Sesshoumaru drank the cup of wine…

* * *

Rin ran toward the entrance of the castle. She didn't forget Sesshoumaru forbade her to leave the castle, but she didn't care anymore. All she wanted to do now was to run away from the castle, also the cage that had trapped her in for a several years already. Rin didn't care that her tears had ruined her beautiful makeup, she just wanted to cry until she felt better.

"Rin, you must not leave the castle! You are going to be punished if Lord Sesshoumaru finds out!" Jaken was running behind Rin, trying to catch up to her. However, he was too short to run fast enough to catch up to Rin. "It's dangerous out there; there are lots of demons… Rin!"

"I don't care!" Rin screamed. All that she wanted to do now is to run away. Maybe Sesshoumaru would finally realize how important she was to him, thought Rin. She kept on running… She ran through the giant garden full of various types of flowers, but she wasn't in the mood to look at the colorful flowers. She ran passed the giant gate to the castle and into the forest. As Rin was running, she raised her head slightly and saw that there was no moon in the sky. There was no star, only dark gray clouds. The sky was dark blue, and looked like it might rain soon.

Rin stopped under an apple tree. She looked back, but her vision was blurry because of her tears. She didn't hear or see Jaken. Jaken was probably too slow to catch up to her. Suddenly, a sharp pain seized the back of her neck, as if someone smacked the back of her neck to knock her out. "Umm…" Rin mumbled. She didn't even had the chance to look back to see who knocked her out. With a light thud, Rin fell to the ground, unconscious. "Muhahaha…" There was a light but evil laughter in the forest, teasing the ill-fated human girl and the revenge he was going to get soon…

* * *

Rin was lying on the floor. Her eyelashes began to move. Slowly, Rin opened her eyes. She realized that she awoke in a dark room. There was only one window. She tried to make out what was in the room, but it was too dark. There was no moon in the sky, and hence no moonlight to illuminate the room. Rin reached to the back of her neck and rubbed it lightly, it was still hurting a little. She was now certain that someone had knocked her out from behind her neck and then brought her here.

"Anybody here?" Rin mumbled. She was a little afraid of the darkness. She didn't like the darkness because she couldn't see anything. She fumbled around the room for a few seconds, then stopped immediately out of fear. She heard panting! 'There is someone in the room!' Rin panicked. She was terrified. 'Who could it be? What did the person want from her?'

Rin backed off until she touched the wall. Then, she felt the door, which was made of iron instead of the walls made of brick. Rin quickly pounded on the door. "Help! Is anyone out there! Let me out!" Tears started to flow out of her eyes. Her beautiful eyes were now filled with horror. "There's something in here! Help! HELP! LET ME OUT!!!" Her pounding was became louder and louder, but no one answered her calls.

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Help me! Don't leave me in the dark!" More tears flowed out of her eyes again. She could hear the panting getting louder and louder, indicating that the 'thing', whatever it is, a human, a demon, or a ghost, was coming closer and closer to her.

"Ahhh!! Help me! Lord Sesshoumaru! Don't leave me here! I'm scared! I'm scared! Ahh!!!" Rin began to panic. She didn't know what to do. There was no way for her to escape. Her voice became blurry as she choked on her tears.

Suddenly, a creature grabbed her wrists and threw her onto the floor. "Ouch…" Rin mumbled. She was now a bit tired from all those pounding and screaming. "Let me go… please…" Rin was pleading the creature, even though she couldn't see who or what that creature was. The creature toppled on top of Rin. Now she was really trapped. Rin pounded on the creature's chest hard and she kicked the creature. But her struggle was only futile. All she heard was the heavy panting of the creature, and all she could do now was sob.

_Zizz_… Rin's kimono was being torn into pieces. Rin struggled harder and screamed harder. "Lord Sesshoumaru! H-help me… Please…" Her voice was mixed with her sobbing. Tears of fear and hopeless ran down her pale cheeks. The moon in the sky was still covered by the thick black clouds. No light penetrated into the dark room. Tonight was a moonless, and hopeless, night…

* * *

**Author's note:** Phew… finally finished this chapter. It was much longer than the first chapter. What will happen to Rin? Who was the mysterious figure that poured some powder into wine and tea? And who is this creature in the dark room? All of the answers will be revealed in the future, hence the title "The Obscure Truth". I hope you like the story so far… So, please review!!! Thanks!!! 


	3. The Girl in the Forest

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha.

**Author's note:** Thank you to the reviewers! Those reviews are very special to me! Okay, a new chapter, I hope you enjoy!

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**The Obscure Truth**

Chapter 3

The Girl in the Forest

* * *

A girl with long black hair was sitting under a tree. She seemed very lonely sitting there by herself in the forest; no one could be seen anywhere. She was wearing a green kimono with white flowers as the patterns of the kimono. Bow and arrows were lying next to her feet. Her dark brown eyes were fixed at a spot on the green grass, but her eyes were not focused. She was thinking about what she saw four days ago in the forest. The scene she saw stung her eyes, and tears formed in her big eyes.

'I have decided to live here, in this era, the feudal era, so that I can be with you. I thought you finally saw who is the most important person to you… but I guess I was wrong. After all we've been through together, after Naraku was defeated, and after you told me the person you love is me, you still couldn't forget her… Is my decision to stay here wrong?' The girl questioned her decision she had made in the past. Then, the tears slowly slid down her cheeks as she remembered the bitter scene four days ago…

-

_(Flashback)_

_The young priest dressed in white shirt and red pants, with her hair tied up in the back of her head stumbled a bit as she approached her village. She was now in the forest, surrounded by the green trees and fresh air. Her black eyes searched in the forest for the man she desperately needed to see, or she might not have another chance again._

_Behind a tree, a man with white hair and dog ears were taking a nap. He had a girl sitting next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. She was the same girl sitting in the forest alone four days later. Suddenly, she awoke. She seemed to hear footsteps approaching them. "Inuyasha…" she called and shook the half demon with the dog ears beside her. But he seemed to be in a deep sleep, and he didn't hear her. She stood up, wondered into the forest nearby, trying to see who might be approaching her. After five minutes, she didn't find anyone or any creature. "Maybe it was just my imagination…" She thought happily. When she was almost back to Inuyasha, she suddenly saw him hugging another woman! She immediately hid behind a tree, shocked!_

_She gasped. She opened her mouth and she quickly raised her hands to cover her mouths, so that no sound would come out. Her eyes were now wide open, not only shocked, but also hurt. That woman was priest Kikyou! Inuyasha had admitted to her that he loved Kikyou more than he loved her. But she thought all that had changed. Along their journey, Inuyasha had been through so many hardships together with her. He had rescued her many times. He was also jealous when Kouga wanted her to be his woman. After they finally defeated Naraku, Inuyasha told her that he realized the woman he loves was her, not Kikyou. He had promised to be with her and protect her for all eternity. But… he was embracing that priest right now! Why?_

_She didn't hear what they were saying as tears swelled up in her eyes. She felt that the air around her was thinning until she almost couldn't breathe. She shook her head slightly, not wanting to believe what she saw._

'_This can't be happening! Kikyou disappeared after Naraku was defeated! We all thought she died… well, she wasn't human to begin with, but… Why is she here? No, she can't be here to take Inuyasha away from me… I won't allow that! I had decided to stay here so that I can be with Inuyasha. I gave up my life in the future where technologies are much better. I left my families, even though I can always go back and visit them; it's no big deal… But I sacrificed a lot to be with Inuyasha…' She started crying. In order to prevent being discovered behind the tree, she started running away. She needed some time alone, to think and clear up her head. She'll come back later and she must talk to Inuyasha when she's calmer. Otherwise, they'll just end up fighting again…_

_(End of flashback)_

-

When she got back to the same spot one hour later, Inuyasha and Kikyou were gone. She stayed up there waiting for Inuyasha for the whole day, until Sango and Miroku came looking for them at night. But they couldn't find Inuyasha anywhere. No traces of Kikyou too. Inuyasha had been gone for four days now.

'Where is Inuyasha? Why did he just disappear like that? I was with him that day before Kikyou came. The least he can do is inform me he needs to go somewhere! Doesn't he know I will be worry about him?' She thought bitterly.

She had been sitting here everyday for four days. Perhaps Inuyasha will come back here and find her since the last place he was at was here with her. She came here from morning until night. Every morning, she came with hope, hope of seeing him today, but every night she went back to the village disappointed. This was the fourth morning.

Another woman walked slowly towards her. That woman wore a magenta kimono. She held a white cat-like animal in her arms. That animal was Kilala, and it could turn into a giant lion-like creature for others to ride on. She approached the girl under the tree and called out to her. "Kagome…"

Kagome turned her head, not surprise to see Sango. "Sango…" Sango had been here with her for the past two days. She said that she was worried, so she wanted to accompany Kagome. Kagome was glad to have a close friend beside her.

"Kagome… waiting for Inuyasha to come back again?" Sango asked. Even though she knew the answer, she couldn't help but to ask again. Sango sat down beside Kagome, slightly shaking her head. 'Poor Kagome… Where is that Inuyasha?' Sango thought. 'How could he leave her like this?' She sighed and tried to think of how to start the conversation. "Kagome… you've been up here for three days already! It's not that save in the forest, there may be demons here. Come back to the village, I'm sure Inuyasha will go find you first when he comes back." Sango tried to convince Kagome.

"But Sango, I want to be here…" Kagome lowered her head. She knew what Sango said was true, but she wanted to wait for him to come back. She bit her lower lips and tried to hold back her tears. "I can protect myself. Look! I brought my bow and arrows with me everyday!" She tried to sound as cheerful as she could, but her voice was not normal. Sango noticed the tears in Kagome's eyes. She knew that Kagome must be feeling very bad. Kagome had told her and Miroku about what she saw in the forest four days ago. Sango gritted her teeth and thought 'Kikyou!' She never really liked Kikyou in the first place, and now Kikyou caused Kagome to be upset.

"Kagome… If you'll feel better after crying, don't try to hold your tears back anymore. Aren't we best friends in the world?" Sango wanted to comfort Kagome, since she knew that Kagome was not going to go back to the village until Inuyasha comes back.

"S-sango… Thanks…" Kagome put her hands on her face and started crying. She really needed some ways to release the sorrow and pressure she had been feeling for the past few days. Sango patted Kagome's back to soothe her.

After Kagome finished crying, she felt much better. Suddenly, a moan could be heard from behind the bush. Kagome and Sango jumped out of fear. "Did you hear that, Sango?" Kagome said with a trembling voice. Her expression on her face was similar to the expression of seeing a ghost. Sango held onto Kagome's arm and answered, "Y-yeah… w-what do you think i-it might be…?"

"Let's… f-find o-out…" Kagome picked up the bow and arrows on the grass and started walking toward the bush that the sound seemed to be from. They approached carefully, afraid to find some demons or even ghost, if it exists, behind the bush. Sango reached her trembling hand towards the bush and pushed apart the leaves. Their eyes widened when they saw a young girl lying on her belly on the grass. They couldn't see her face.

Kagome slowly turned her over and they both gasped. "Oh my… poor girl!" She exclaimed. The girl was wearing a white kimono, but there were small patches of blood on several parts of her body. There were scratches on her hands and one on her face. Those scratches seemed to be made by some kinds of claws. Her hair was all messy and she was no unconscious. "Why is she here? What happened to her?" Kagome's eyes became watery for sympathy for the girl. She looked so beautiful, why could something so horrible happened to her?

"Kagome… isn't she a bit familiar? But I can't remember where have I seen her before…" Sango thought. Kagome observed the pretty face of the young girl and nodded in agreement. "Now that you mentioned it, she does seem familiar… Hey! What are we doing here? We need to help her!" Kagome yelled.

"Right!" Sango slapped her forehead and put Kilala to the ground. "Kilala!" At Sango's call, Kilala transformed into the white lion-like creature. Sango and Kagome picked the injured girl from the grass and put her onto Kilala. Then, Sango got onto Kilala and flew back to the village first. Kagome ran back to the village. By now, she had forgotten about Inuyasha leaving her. All she remembered was the poor wounded girl who needed help.

'That poor, poor girl! Who would do such a thing?' She rushed back to the village with worry…

* * *

Inuyasha was walking in the forest. He found himself in the forest really far away from Inuyasha forest. He had a giant headache right now. He raised his right hand and rubbed his forehead. "Damn! How did I get this headache? And why was I so far away from the village? What day is today? How did I get here?" He wondered out loud. He had no idea what happened to him for several days. He judged that he was probably out for several days because he was extremely hungry right now.

_Grrr…_ His stomach growled in protest of being empty for several days. Inuyasha decided to speed up his paste and get back to the village for lunch. "Kagome and the others must be worried!" He blurted out loudly. "The good thing is, Tetsusaiga is still here. Good thing that no one stole it." He jumped up to the top of the trees and started rushing back to the village.

As he was leaping from tree to tree, he started reviewing what was the last thing he remembered. He remembered sitting under a tree with Kagome. They were walking together in the forest and decided to rest for a while. Then, he probably falls asleep. He remembered vaguely that Kagome had her head positioned on his shoulder while he took a nap. Then, he was awaked by some noise. By then, Kagome was no where to be found. Just when he was about to go find her, a shadow appeared in front of him…

-

_(Flashback)_

_Kikyou appeared in front of him. Her face was very pale. She looked at him with a pair of sorrowful black eyes. There was still some hatred in her eyes. He was shocked to see her so suddenly. She was gone after they defeated Naraku. Kikyou just stood there, watching him. The time seemed to freeze around them. All he could see was her. He was so focused on her that he didn't sense or smell Kagome approaching._

"_I'm here to ask you one last time, Inuyasha." Kikyou opened her mouth. "Will you come with me? I will forgive you if you come with me. I will condone your betrayal when you tried to steal the shikon jewel from me." Her eyes were still fixed on him._

"_I..." Inuyasha's golden eyes faltered. Who does he really love? He knew he loved Kagome with all his heart, but he still had feelings for Kikyou. What should he do? "But you knew that we were set up by Naraku… why did you still say that?"_

"_Does it matter now? Are you really going to choose her instead of me?" She questioned him. The hatred in her eyes grew stronger. She didn't want Inuyasha to choose Kagome. She loved him deeply too. If it weren't Kagome, Inuyasha would go with her. Kagome doesn't even belong in this time period!_

_Inuyasha lowered his golden eyes. In his mind, he saw Kagome's cheerful and innocent smile. He was really happy when Kagome was around her. She was the one who changed how he felt about the world. He no longer ashamed of being half-breed and no longer despised human. But on the other hand, Kikyou was his first love. She died and he pitied her. But was pity really love?_

"_Inuyasha, please, come with me…" Kikyou pleaded. "I'm… dying… the spell for me to live seemed to be eroding for a long time…" She whispered. Her eyes were full of sorrow. She held out her hands to him, hoping that he will take her hand._

"_Kikyou…" Inuyasha looked up at her. His heart was hurting for the news of her dying soon. He walked toward her and hugged her. He was sad that she was going to die soon. He wanted to hug her once more. But he didn't know that Kagome saw this…_

"_Does it mean… you'll come with me?" Kikyou whispered. A smile of triumph and satisfaction appeared on her face. She would die satisfied if Inuyasha was going to be with her. But to her surprise, Inuyasha suddenly pushed her away gently. He shook his head and apologized. "Sorry Kikyou. But I realized that the person I really love is not you. It is Kagome. I feel sorry for you, but that is only pity. Please forgive me, but I cannot return your love." His golden eyes showed pity towards her, but not love. Kikyou couldn't find her reflection in his eyes. "I see…" Hatred seemed to grew in her eyes…_

_(End of flashback)_

-

"Then what happened?" Inuyasha pondered. But his head started hurting the instance he tried to remember. "Argh! Then what? Why can't I remember?" He growled in frustration. The village was in sight now. He leaped toward another tree and threw the questions into the back of his mind. What he needed now was food! He could think about other things later.

* * *

The room had a tense mood in it. Everyone had a serious and worried face. Sango and Kagome were cleaning up the wounds on the girl's body. Kagome took out some white bandages and started wrapping the girl's wounds. Miroku were facing the other direction. He was not allowed to turn his head to the direction of the injured girl. Shippou was now older, he was also forced to look at the other direction. It was good enough to allowed them in the room instead of kicking them out of the room.

"Done." Kagome and Sango announced together. They sighed in relief. Miroku and Shippou turned around and walked toward the girl. Miroku was staring at the girl's beautiful face, while Sango was fuming about it. "Miroku!" Sango yelled. Just when she was about to slap him in the face for being perverted again, he caught her wrist.

"Relax, Sango. I was just thinking, have we seen her somewhere? I'm pretty sure we had seen her in the past. She looked so familiar, yet we probably didn't know her that well…" He concluded. Sango lowered her hand and nodded her head. "You think so too? That was what I told Kagome when we found her!" She smiled, happy to know Miroku and her think alike.

"Hey, I've seen her before! But… where?" Shippou yelled. Miroku rolled his eyes at Shippou's comments. He knew that already. They must have seen her somewhere. Just when everyone was thinking really hard about the familiar young girl, the door was being pushed open.

Inuyasha rushed into the room and stopped beside Kagome. He was extremely hungry right now. "Finally! Hi Kagome! Can you make me some food, I'm really hungry. I didn't eat for days, I think." He reached out his hand and tried to grab Kagome's hand, but to his surprise, Kagome jumped behind Miroku and stared angrily at Inuyasha. "What's wrong?" Inuyasha turned his face and observed everyone in the room. Everyone had a disapproving face and was looking at him angrily.

Inuyasha took a closer look at Kagome's eyes, he was slightly shocked as he caught the tears in her eyes. She quickly lowered her eyes to avert eye contacts with him. He tried to approach Kagome and ask her what's wrong, but he suddenly tensed up. His golden eyes turned keen and alert, as if danger was around the corner. He reached for Tetsusaiga on his side and ready to pull it out of the sheath.

"Sesshoumaru!" He whispered. He looked around the room and saw the injured girl on the bed. He pulled out the sword and it turned from a crooked sword into a big and strong sword. "I smell Sesshoumaru!" He yelled and was about to rush toward the girl when Miroku held him back. "Let go of me!" Inuyasha yelled angrily.

"Stop it, Inuyasha! What do you think you are doing? Sesshoumaru is not here!" Kagome yelled. But he didn't seem to hear her. His eyes were turning red, as if a hated demon or his biggest enemy was in front of him and he must slay the enemy. "Sit boy!" Kagome said. Inuyasha immediately fell face flat on the ground.

Sango rushed to the side of the injured girl to protect her. Kilala also turned into its bigger form, standing beside its master. Inuyasha stood up angrily. He put the sword back into the sheath and demanded to know what was going on around here. "What was that for, Kagome?" He directed his anger to Kagome. "And what the hell is going on here? I'm positive that girl over there had the scent of Sesshoumaru! Why is she here, huh? She could be dangerous, you know?"

"Calm down, Inuyasha. She was hurt in the forest. Kagome and Sango found her, so they took her back to heal her." Miroku answered calmly. Then, an idea struck them all, except Inuyasha, who didn't even took a closer look at the girl. He was still gritting his teeth for smelling the scent of Sesshoumaru. He didn't like his half-brother, who always tried to steal Tetsusaiga away from him and always tried to fight and kill him.

"I know who she is!" Shippou exclaimed. "Me too!" Sango said. "She's Rin!" Kagome said. "Yes!" Miroku nodded his head. Only Inuyasha was confused about what they were talking about. "Huh? Rin? Who's that?" He had a bad memory when it comes to the name of someone he didn't care about. He looked at the young girl and walked towards her. He observed her and his eyes widened. "Oh! Rin! That little girl we saw when she was captured by Naraku! Sesshoumaru even came to save her!" Inuyasha finally remembered.

"Right! My brother Kohaku was there too!" Sango exclaimed. "Wow, she had grown up already! Time passes so fast…" Sango looked at the girl, amazed at how fast time passed. Rin was still a little girl when they saw her. Now she was a beautiful young lady!

"That will explain Sesshoumaru's scent on her as well. She lived with him, didn't she? Rumors have it that Sesshoumaru treated her differently, and he despised human, remember? Sesshoumaru was also the one who saved her life." Miroku informed the gang.

"Yeah… but why would she be abandoned in the forest? I heard rumors that Sesshoumaru doesn't even allow others, demon or human, to approach her. It would seem like he's protecting her somehow." Sango questioned. She lowered her head and started thinking for a logical explanation of Rin in the forest, hurt.

"Hmph, like my heartless half-brother Sesshoumaru was going to protect her. It would be lucky enough for her to keep her life being around him." Inuyasha snorted. He didn't believe all those rumors. "Maybe she was a slave in his castle. He probably abused her to death and then abandoned her in the forest." His explanation earned him several pairs of death glares. Even though they didn't like Sesshoumaru, but it was true that he went to save her from Naraku.

"We'll find out when she wakes up." Kagome concluded. She started cleaning up the bandages and water they used to clean the wounds. Sango stood up and helped her out. "Let's go out. Rin needs some rest." Kagome reminded them. It wasn't good to be discussing something in the room, they'll disturb Rin.

"Right…" They all nodded their heads in agreement and stood up. When Inuyasha went out of the room, he was the last one, he caught up to Kagome. "Hey Kagome. I'm really hungry. Won't you be so kind to make me some food? Please?" He pleaded. But the answer he got shocked him. He stood there, unable to move an inch. Kagome had said, "Hmph! Get it yourself!" She didn't even bother looking at him. The others just smiled evilly at Inuyasha's stun expression.

"Hey! What did I do to you?" He protested, but Kagome went into her room and banged the door loudly, ignoring Inuyasha completely. "What's her problem?" He raised one eyebrow, confused. He scratched his head and sighed. They had some small fights sometimes, but this time Kagome seemed really upset and angry about something. But what did he do to her? Several days ago, she was still sitting under the tree peacefully with him. 'Something must have happened this few days. Why don't I remember what happened to me in the past few days? I better find out soon, then I'll know why Kagome is so mad at me…' Inuyasha thought. Then, he walked out of the wooden house and decided to go to the forest to think alone.

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**Author's notes:** That's it for this chapter. We met Inuyasha and the gang in this chapter, yay! So, how's the story so far? We'll find out what happen to Rin later, but not too fast. Rin will awake in the next chapter, and her reactions will be shocking. Okay, please review! I'm begging the readers for some feedbacks! Thank you! 


	4. Hidden Feelings

**Disclaimer: **I do NOT own Inuyasha the anime and the manga. So don't come chasing after me. 

**Author's note: **Geez… I haven't updated the story for like one month… Sorry about that… but looks like not much people wanted to read anyway… that's so hurtful (T.T) I guess I update more and see how it become of it… I hope I don't have to delete it… I would hate to do that… After all, I did work hard for it…

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**The Obscure Truth**

Chapter 4

Hidden Feelings

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The morning sun dyed the land and the castle into orange color. Birds were chirping and flying happily in the clear blue sky. Trees were green, air was fresh, and the scents of the flowers were pleasant. However, such a peaceful atmosphere could not change the darkness in the castle of Lord Sesshoumaru. 

Sesshoumaru woke up in his own bed room. No sun light was able to penetrate through the window. Everything, the wall, the ceiling, the floor, and even the bed, were the color of ebony. It was ironic that Sesshoumaru's hair was pure white, and he wore a white outfit.

An excruciating headache seized Sesshoumaru. He frowned and used his hands to massage his forehead. 'What the hell happened to me?' Sesshoumaru thought. The last thing he remembered was on the dinner, it was Rin's eighteenth birthday. Everything was going smoothly until that idiotic dog demon and the other fat demon interrupted the dinner with the discussions of mating Rin. 'But what exactly happened after the dinner? The last thing I remembered was…' Sesshoumaru thought…

_(flashback)_

_Rin's tears finally fall down her cheeks, which now became colorless and very pale. Every bits of happiness and cheerfulness vanished from her black eyes. She slammed the table lightly and suddenly stood up. "I'm not going to accept that!" She yelled, and than she ran down the steps towards the entrance of the lobby._

"_Stop, Rin! Where do you think you are going? You are not allowed to leave until the end of the dinner." Sesshoumaru ordered. Although his voice may be emotionless, his golden eyes became worried. He saw Rin's tears and the disappointment in her eyes. "I need to talk to you after the dinner."_

_But Rin shook her head as she ran towards the entrance. "Jaken, go look after Rin." Sesshoumaru ordered. He couldn't leave the dinner right now. He must at least escort all these demons out of his castle. He didn't want any incident similar to this morning's incident happening in his castle because of the demon guests._

"_Yes, my lord." Jaken said. He quickly stood up and then grabbed his staff. Then, he trotted after Rin out of the lobby._

"_This will be the last dish. After you finish, the dinner is over. Everyone shall leave my castle at once after the dinner." Sesshoumaru said coldly, still staring at the two trouble-making demons. He took up the cup of wine and drank it swiftly. He didn't have the mood for anything right now; hence he didn't notice a pair of white eyes staring at him with a large, evil grin on his face after the white eyes saw Sesshoumaru drank the cup of wine…_

_(end of flashback)_

'Rin was crying, she ran out… I drank the cup of wine, and the other demons left… then… what happened?' Sesshoumaru tried very hard to think of what happened next, but to his surprise, his memory was as blank as a white paper! Sesshoumaru got off of his black bed with frustration. "How can my memory be blank? I don't even remember how I got back to my bedroom! I have never been like this before!" Sesshoumaru's veins started popping on his forehead. It was bad enough that he let Rin ran away crying, now he was losing his memory?

"Jaken!" Sesshoumaru shouted. His face returned stoically the moment Jaken came running into the room. No emotion was shown so others could never guess what he was thinking. It was necessary to become dominant in a society of power-hungry demon after all, so that no one could guess what his next move might be.

"Yes, my lord." The green toad-looking demon bowed in front of Sesshoumaru. Jaken knew Sesshoumaru probably had some questions he wanted to ask, especially those that concerned Rin. "What is it, lord Sesshoumaru?" Jaken asked politely.

"What happened to Rin? Did you bring her back as I've ordered you to?" Sesshoumaru said with a cold eyes. His honey-colored eyes staring coldly at Jaken. 'Rin better be back in the castle' he thought. However, from Jaken's scared expression and slightly shaken body, Rin was probably lost somewhere. Jaken was quiet, he just bowed there, without saying a word. A small fire sparkled in Sesshoumaru's honey eyes, turning them into the color of crimson.

"Where is she?" Sesshoumaru said through gritted teeth. Jaken was still not answering. Sesshoumaru cracked his knuckles and with a swift move, picked Jaken up by his collar. 'I should have gone after her myself! Useless Jaken!' He thought furiously.

"I'm sorry, lord Sesshoumaru! Please don't hurt me! Rin has grown up now and she runs so much faster than me now! I'm sorry!" Jaken was trembling, afraid that Sesshoumaru might kill him out of rage. Who knows what Sesshoumaru might do? After all, he did tested his Tensaiga on Jaken! That was something Jaken could never forget!

Finally able to control his rage, Sesshoumaru put Jaken down. 'What is wrong with me, losing my temper like this? This wasn't like me at all!' Sesshoumaru frowned at himself for showing off a little too much emotion, anger, in front of Jaken. He used to be able to control his emotion at all time, and he was proud of it. But when it comes to Rin, he was very likely to lose control of himself.

"So Rin is no longer in the castle? Hmm… Jaken, go find Rin. Take Ah and Un with you." Sesshoumaru returned to his calm voice, ordering Jaken like it was only a small mission. "And one more thing. Do you remember what happened after the dinner for Rin's birthday?" Sesshoumaru asked. He must find out what happened that night.

"Come to think of it… no… all I remember was that the dog demon guests left. And I just woke up like two minutes ago…" Jaken answered. He started pondering on what exactly happened, but nothing came to him. He doesn't seemed to have any memory of that night…

"I see. Now go. Find Rin as soon as possible." Sesshoumaru re-stated his order, emotionless of course. Jaken took the order, but mumbled something on his way out. "Why do I have to do all the hard work? I don't have a good sense of smell like lord Sesshoumaru… why don't he go find her himself? Why do I have to go?" Jaken mumbled and whined on his way out.

"Did I hear complaints?" Sesshoumaru asked coldly. His sense of hearing was very keen. Jaken didn't response, he just ran quickly out of the bedroom, as if some scary monsters were behind him, about to devour him completely. Sesshoumaru smirked.

'I better go find her. Jaken couldn't complete one simple mission. Hmph. But it was good to keep him busy for a while.' Sesshoumaru thought. He jumped out of his window and landed on the garden of the castle. It was the fastest way out of the complicated castle anyway. He had no mood of going through that dark and twisted hallway to leave the castle right now. Rin was more important. There could be demons everywhere in the forests waiting to devour Rin.

Sesshoumaru jumped swiftly to the top of the trees and hopped to the next trees speedily. He started sniffing for the scent of Rin…

* * *

Two wolf demons were pulling and pushing in the forest; they seemed to be arguing about something. One wolf demon had black long hair tied in the back of his head into a pony tail. His cerulean eyes looked very astute and keen. He had an annoy expression on his face and tried to push the other wolf demon away from him. His fur was the color of dark brown, and the fur seemed very soft. 

"Kouga! You can't go! You promised that you are going to be my mate!" Ayame shouted. She had a pair of emerald eyes and auburn hair tied into two pony tail on each side of her head. She was very cute and energetic, but her expression showed her anger. She was pulling Kouga's right hand, refused to let him go no matter how hard he tried to lose her hands.

"Ayame!" Kouga shouted angrily. "Let go of me! I'm going to see Kagome now! I haven't seen her in ages!" Kouga tried to get rid of Ayame, but she kept on following him no matter where he went. It was true though, Kouga haven't seen Kagome since Naraku was beaten, which was at least seven or eight years ago… 'I shouldn't let her go that time. She's probably with Inuyasha after all these years without me!' Kouga thought a bitangrily, yet was he really that serious about Kagome? Perhaps. Perhaps not.

"But you promised me to marry me! You are mine! I don't allow you to see that Kagome girl!" Ayame yelled angrily. 'After all these years, he still likes Kagome? Why? What is so good about her? I'm pretty too, why doesn't he take me seriously?' Ayame was furious, but some tears swelled up her eyes because of anger and a little bit of sorrow. The world around her became blurry as her eyes were full of tears. She didn't want to cry. She promised herself that she would never let go of Kouga, and would keep on trying until one day, he realizes how good she is. But he never seemed to going to open up to her. Pain started stabbing Ayame's heart, but she still held on tightly of Kouga's arm, refusing to let go.

"Stop being so unreasonable! I'm warning you, Ayame, don't make me hit you!" Kouga's eyes were turning red as rage almost submerged his conscience. Ayame didn't seem to hear Kouga, she just hugged onto his arms even tighter. "Don't push me!" Kouga yelled with annoyance. Not that he really hated Ayame, but he just found her to be annoying, always following him around.

"If you dare hit me, Kouga, I'll…" Ayame shouted, she was also angry that Kouga treated her badly over all these years. Suddenly, she was pushed with such a force that she was being thrown onto the ground. Ayame sat there, eyes widened with disbelief. Even though Kouga may yell at her very often, never had he pushed her so that she fell onto the ground with a light thud. Pushing her this way was as bad as hitting her!

"I'm going to see Kagome. No one is stopping me. Not even you." Kouga said coldly. He emphasized the word 'you,' referring to Ayame. Ayame was still sitting on the grass, unable to move. Tears were threatening to drop out of her emerald eyes, but she held the tears in. She didn't want to show how weak her heart really was.

"But… you promised me…" Ayame whispered, but was cut off by Kouga harshly. "I told you before, that was only a joke when I saved you in your childhood. Don't be so naïve. Do you know how annoying it was to deal with you day after day? Can't you tell I was only teasing you when I saved you?" He said cruelly, trying to get her to give up on him. "I'm leaving." With that sentence, he left Ayame alone in the forest. He ran into the distant like wind blowing past, disappearing into the forest very soon.

Ayame sat there, emerald eyes following him until she could no longer see him. Tears started dropping down her face. "That was so… hurtful, Kouga." She whispered. "Am I that annoying to you? To the point that you can no longer stand me being around you? This is the first time you left me alone in the forest…" Ayame choked on her tears. She felt so weak, as if all her energy was drained from her body. "Kagome's heart belonged to Inuyasha from the very beginning. That's not going to change. Why do you still insist on going after her?" Ayame wondered.

The birds were singing in the forests; squirrels were playing hide-and-seek on the trees; flowers were beautiful and colorful; the sky was clear and blue, with white clouds the shape of flowers and whatever people imagined them to be; and the fresh morning air was soothing. But, the peaceful mood could not affect Ayame. Everything wonderful around her seemed to be teasing her, teasing that Kouga left her alone. Ayame just sat on the green grass, letting the tears wash her face…

* * *

Sesshoumaru was sitting under a tree in the forest. This was the place where he sat after the battle with Inuyasha over the sword Tetsusaiga. He was almost killed during that battle, but Tensaiga saved him despite how much he hated that useless sword. He was wounded badly and lay under this tree, resting. It was also under this tree that little Rin tried to bring him food. Rin, she was only seven years old during that time. He even tried to scare Rin away, as he still despised humans at that time, perhaps he still despise human today, but not Rin. 

Sesshoumaru was frustrated because he couldn't find even the slightest scent of Rin. He had been searching for her around the forest near the castle. Without any result, he went further. He was now pretty close to the forest near the village his half-brother Inuyasha lived. But to no avail, there was no sign and scent of Rin. It was as if some barriers were blocking the scent of her, trying to conceal her from him. But it didn't make sense at all. Who would do such a thing? Who would want to hide Rin from him? And who could have such a power to do so?

There seemed to be nothing he could do, so he decided to take a rest. His feet seemed to have a mind of its own, taking him under this tree. As Sesshoumaru sat there, memories began to sweep into his mind like waves…

Even though he refused the food Rin brought to him that day, but he still used his Tensaiga to save her from the wolf demons that killed her. He even allowed her to follow him anywhere. He protected her, such as the time he left her near the river and went to the Panther demon castle alone with Jaken. He left her there to keep her save, since he knew a big battle was waiting for him at the Panther demon castle. Then, after Rin was abducted by Naraku, he went and saved her. It was Rin who softened his heart, whichused to befull of hatred.

However, during that time, Rin was like a little sister to him. Even though he didn't talk much to her, but having her around lightened his mood. She was so innocent and so cheerful, no one could have the determination to hurt such a cute little girl, not even him, the heartless Sesshoumaru. He took her back to his castle after Naraku was defeated, and kept her there, protecting her from the dangerous world. He didn't even allow humans to go near her, for humans had treacherous and greedy hearts, and he didn't want them to take Rin away from him.

But when exactly did his feelings started to change about Rin? Sesshoumaru didn't remember. On their journey, he also met two other women who claimed to love him, Sara and Kagura. Sara was the girl that saw him in the forest after his left arm was cut off by Inuyasha in their father's tomb. He had absolutely no feelings for her, perhaps a bit of pity that she would even like him. Kagura was more like a not-so-close friend. It was very obvious that she had feelings for him, but it was only one-sided. She dropped by sometimes and told her some information, and that was all. Even when her life-less body flow down the river when she attacked the castle where Naraku's baby, or his heart, was, he never really intended to save her. He only picked her up from the river because Rin and Jaken also got washed away trying to help Kagura. When Kagura was about to die, he only went and tried to save her as a way to pay her for what she had done for him. But of course, hedidn't love her.

As Rin became more and more beautiful each time he went back to the castle, his feelings began to change. He no longer saw her as just a little girl, a little sister. However, he never admitted that to her. He even tried to stay away from her as much as possible. It was forbidden for a demon to mate a lowly human. He became more and more distant from Rin, but he still cared for her.

The disappointed and heart-broken face that Rin had that night on the dinner greatly stung his heart, but he refused to show her or the guests his feelings. He knew Rin probably misunderstood the things he said that night. There was no way he was going to give her away to some demons, never. But at the same time, Sesshoumaru was still a bit indecisive about what he was going to do with Rin. He cared for her, and perhaps liked her, that he could no longer deny after all these years, but that was irrelevant. The most important thing was that he's the lord of the demons, and Rin was merely a human. Another problem was that he could live a long life, but Rin would age and then die. He still remembered the shock when Rin asked him, "will you remember me after I die?". He told her not to be stupid, but the truth was, he didn't want to answer her question. He didn't want to face that question. He also didn't want to be weak, since every man who had love in the heart was bound to suffer and become weak. His enemy would even target Rin if they knew he had this tiny feeling for her.

Sesshoumaru's golden eyes were fixed on the pink flower near him. Rin's smile was as soft as that pink flower. "Rin…" Sesshoumaru mumbled her name without realizing it. He was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't realize someone was getting near him…

* * *

Ayame had finally found the strength and got up from the ground. She had been wondering around in the forest, and she seemed to be lost. That was also when she spotted something white and fluffy behind a tree. She got a little closer, and heard that 'thing' mumbled something about 'Rin'… 'Who is that behind the tree? And what is a 'Rin'? A person or an object?' Ayame wondered. She seemed to felt a little better from the bickering with Kouga earlier, and she desperately needed to focus on something to forget those hurtful words blurted out of Kouga's mouth. 

Just when she was about to take a look at the person or demon behind the tree, that person also sensed her. Sesshoumaru's eyes immediately became alert, and narrowed his eyes. He moved swiftly and pressed on the 'enemy,' well he considered every human or demon as his enemy, to the ground. The long and sharp poisonous nails were right on top of the 'enemy's' neck, about to pierce through it.

Ayame didn't even know what happened, and the next thing she knew was a white fluffy thing on top of her, and a pair of icy golden eyes staring at her, and of course the scary nails threatening to take her life away from her! "Ah" Ayame cried. She almost had a heart attack. When she finally focused her vision and saw that white fluffy stuff was the famous Sesshoumaru, she just stared at him stupidly with mouth opened.

"Who are you and why are you here?" Sesshoumaru asked coldly. He was too careless to allow someone to go so near him. He hated her for seeing the weak side he never showed anyone, probably not even Rin. This wolf demon had seen his faltering self, and she probably heard he was mumbling about Rin.

"I'm… I'm… Ayame." Ayame stuttered. Her emerald eyes were now staring at the poisonous claws Sesshoumaru put near her throat. "Can you please… remove your claws… please?" Ayame said. She didn't want to get kill in the forest. She still had to go find Kouga. Today must be her unlucky day, being dumped by Kouga and almost being killed by the famous cruel Sesshoumaru, who could kill without even blinking his eyes.

Sesshoumaru observed her for a while, and decided to let her go. "You better not say a word about seeing me here in the forest. Otherwise I'll have to hunt you down." Sesshoumaru warned. Then, he got off her and let her go.

Ayame stood up, anger started to climb up her face. 'Sesshoumaru was so rude!' she thought silently. Just to be save, she didn't start a fight with Sesshoumaru, for she knew how powerful the Lord of the Western Land was. It would be stupid to make him angry. Thus, Ayame just walked away from Sesshoumaru, on her quest to find Kouga again…

Sesshoumaru didn't really pay attention to where Ayame went. He looked up at the sky, and saw that the sun was about to set. The sky was the color of orange and yellow, very beautiful. He should also go back to the castle now. He was a little tired for looking for Rin all day. 'Rin, where are you?' Sesshoumaru thought. He wasn't about to give up hopes of finding her, not yet…

* * *

In the village, kids were playing near the river. Adults were home cooking dinner. The sun was setting, and the view was fantastically beautiful. But, Inuyasha was pissed off now. Kagome didn't talk to him since yesterday. For the whole day today, she just ignored him, even when he tried to talk to her and ask her what exactly was she so mad at him for. But there was something else in her eyes besides anger. There seemed to be disappointment and pain in her eyes, but why? Inuyasha had been thinking about that ever since yesterday when he got home, but still couldn't figure it out. He had no idea that Kagome saw Kikyou and him in the forest several days ago. He also wasn't planning on telling her, since that would probably upset her. 

Just when he was pissed off this afternoon, that troublesome Kouga dropped by. 'Kouga was so annoying! Couldn't he tell that Kagome's heart belonged to me?' Inuyasha thought irritated. Even more frustrating to Inuyasha was that Kagome talked to Kouga happily, while ignoring him for two days! How could she do such a thing? But luckily, Kouga left when the sun was about to set. He seemed to be worried about Ayame, since she didn't come with him. Kouga mumbled something like "Where the hell is Ayame?" and then he ran off, after saying goodbye to Kagome of course.

Anyway, Kagome was still not talking to him. She chatted happily with everyone, Sango, Miroku, Shippou, and Kaede. That definitely pissed Inuyasha off even more. Just when Inuyasha was sitting on top of the roof whining about Kagome's bad attitude, he heard Sango yelled out to the others from the room they put Rin in. Kagome and Miroku rushed into the room, and Inuyasha jumped off the roof, wondering what happened to that girl Rin.

In the room, Rin had opened her eyes. She saw several figures towering around her, but her vision was still blurry. She tried to focus on her views, and finally able to see clearly who were around her. 'They seemed so familiar…' Rin thought, a bit confuse of where she was. She tried to move, but her whole body started to hurt, like someone had beaten her up badly or something. "Hmm…" Rin whimpered as more pain started to sting her shoulder. She frowned at the excruciating pain she felt.

"Don't move! You're wounded badly!" Kagome immediately stabled her shoulders, preventing Rin to move. "We found you in the forest, do you remember what happened?" Sango asked. Rin didn't answer them. She looked at them confusedly, trying to remember where had she seen them before.

"Have I… had I seen y-you before?" Rin asked, her voice sounded a bit coarse. Sango immediately poured a cup of water and gave it to Rin. Kagome looked really worried about Rin. Before she could say anything, Rin exclaimed, "Kagome, right? You're Inu-" Just when she was about to say Inuyasha's name, the horrible memory of that dark room in that moonless night rushed into her mind… Those memories were horrifying…

_(flashback)_

_She realized that she awoke in a dark room. There was only one window. She tried to make out what was in the room, but it was too dark. There was no moon in the sky, and hence no moonlight to illuminate the room. She was a little afraid of the darkness. She didn't like the darkness because she couldn't see anything. She fumbled around the room for a few seconds, then stopped immediately out of fear. She heard panting!_

"_Lord Sesshoumaru! Help me! Don't leave me in the dark!" More tears flowed out of her eyes again. She could hear the panting getting louder and louder, indicating that the 'thing', whatever it is, a human, a demon, or a ghost, was coming closer and closer to her._

_Suddenly, a creature grabbed her wrists and threw her onto the floor. "Ouch…" Rin mumbled. She was now a bit tired from all those pounding and screaming. "Let me go… please…" Rin was pleading the creature, even though she couldn't see who or what that creature was. The creature toppled on top of Rin. Now she was really trapped. Rin pounded on the creature's chest hard and she kicked the creature. But her struggle was only futile. All she heard was the heavy panting of the creature, and all she could do now was sob._

_Zizz… Rin's kimono was being torn into pieces. Rin struggled harder and screamed harder. "Lord Sesshoumaru! H-help me… Please…" Her voice was mixed with her sobbing. Tears of fear and hopeless ran down her pale cheeks._

_(end of flashback)_

Rin's eyes widened in fear. She stopped herself from remembering the rest of the thing. Tears began streaming down her pale cheeks. She used her hands to cover her ears, as the panting sound of 'him' was replaying again and again in her ears. "Rin! What's wrong?" Kagome and Sango asked. They were frightened by Rin's sudden reaction. "Don't touch me! Let go of me!" Rin started yelling and crying. She didn't hear or see the worried faces of Kagome, Sango, and Miroku. She just kept on repeating the same thing, "Help me, Lord Sesshoumaru! Don't leave me!"

In the middle of the chaos, Inuyasha came in. "What's going on here?" He heard the noises even outside of the house! Rin spotted Inuyasha, she immediately freaked out. When Inuyasha was walking closer to the bed, Rin started yelling again, "Don't come close! Get away from me!" More tears were rolling down her face. "What's her problem?" Inuyasha asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Inuyasha, I think you should go out for now. She seemed to be afraid of you." Miroku told Inuyasha calmly after his observation. Inuyasha frowned at his statement.

"Why do I have to go out? She seemed like she's losing her mind!" Inuyasha said.

"Inuyasha, please, just go out for now." Sango said, while trying to calm Rin down with Kagome. Inuyasha looked at the obviously frightened Rin, and decided perhaps he should go out for now.

"Fine. But I say the fastest way to calm her down would be to knock her out first." After the suggestion, Inuyasha looked at Kagome, and then went out of the room.

"Inuyasha is right. There is not way to calm her down now." Miroku said.

"Miroku! How could you say that?" Kagome glared at Miroku, but it was too late. Miroku had already knocked Rin out. All the shouting and crying stopped instantly after Rin fell into unconsciousness. Sango pulled the sheets up to Rin's chin, and used the handkerchief to wipe the cold sweats on Rin's forehead.

"Poor Rin… What happened to her to make her act so hysterically?" Kagome asked. Her eyes full of pity for Rin. She was so cute and cheerful years ago when they saw her. What could have happened to change her?

"We don't know… Perhaps after she recovered from her wounds, and could face the horrors she had been through, then she might be able to tell us what happened." Miroku said. He was also frowning and worried about Rin. Such an innocent little girl they saw was changed, but why?

As the puzzling questions revolved in everyone's mind, they silently went out the room, to let Rin rest some more…

* * *

**Author's note:** Okay, this chapter took me long enough to finish! More puzzling questions, I know, I'm evil, tee hee. What happened to Rin that night she ran away? Why was she so terrified at Inuyasha? And who exactly was that 'person' in the dark room? And will Kouga end up with Ayame? Hee hee… more questions that must be answer throughout the story. Please, I need more reviews to give me some energy to write the story! Please look at readers with anime puppy-dog eyes… 

P.S. Hate school! School is starting tomorrow (T.T) …


	5. Jealousy

**Disclaimer: **I do not own Inuyasha. Is that understood? Good.

**Note: **Oh my goodness… I didn't update this story for five whole months (O.O )Sorry about that. No, I did not abandon this fan-fic! I vow never to abandon a fan-fic, that's such a horrible crime (umm… to me it is). I shall continue it, and I am right now. So, please enjoy this new chapter. Yes, and thanks for the reviews! I appreciate them greatly!

Note: I'm updating this a/n on September 26, 2005. Because I've recently finished the whole Inuyasha anime series, I'm changing a little bit of chapter 1, other than that, the rest of the story is still the same. It's just a minor change about Rin's background. At first I said she was taken back to the castle after abducted by Naraku and confined there, now I'm just changing it to that she willingly decided to be with Sesshoumaru. Sorry about the changes. Enjoy.

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* * *

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**The Obscure Truth**

Chapter 5

Jealousy

* * *

Another moonless night. A dark figure hid himself behind a tree in the forest near the village. He had sealed this village up with his spell. No scent would be able to escape the village. That girl Sesshoumaru tried desperately to protect, Rin, her scent will not leak out from the village. This means, Sesshoumaru won't smell her even if he came close to the village. 

A wicked smile appeared on the face of the figure. He had rather handsome features, with long black hair and blood-thirsty eyes. Sure, he was defeated years ago, but he was back. They had no idea he actually was able to survive, even he was surprised that he lived. Now, a plot of revenge came along with his presence. He vowed to take away the most precious things away from all of them, those who defeated him!

A demon with a pair of white eyes approached gradually. It had been six days since he carried out the mission he was given in Lord Sesshoumaru's castle. He was here to gain his reward for helping this mysterious demon.

"Mission was successful. 'He' drank the cup of drugged wine, and everything else went according to plan." The white-eye demon reported.

"Good." The mysterious demon said coldly with a smirk.

"The reward you promised me… Can I claim it now?" The white-eye demon asked eagerly. All one could see was greediness on his face.

"Sure." The mysterious demon replied, ever so icily. He had promised to give this demon one hundred human girls for him to devour or toy with all he wanted.

"Thank you!" The sick expression appeared on the white-eye demon. He rubbed his hands eagerly at the thought of one hundred delicious young human girls. They would taste delicious as dinner. "Where are they?" He questioned excitedly.

In a mere second, a venomous claw pricked the white-eye demon's neck. He's white eyes widened, shocked at what just happened. Yet, he didn't have much time to think as he fell flat on his face on the ground, dead.

"Hahahaha…" The mysterious demon laughed abominably. "There is no reward, and I don't keep my promise, hahaha…" He laughed some more, watching coldly at the body of the dead demon. Why would he waste his time to gather one hundred human girls as reward for this useless demon? Even though he could have easily done it, but there was no point.

_Clap, clap, clap._ Some one was clapping, coming out behind a tree. "Still as callous as ever, Naraku." The woman said as she revealed herself.

Naraku looked coldly at her. It was ironic, he wanted to kill her that much, yet now they were cooperating. It was even more ironic that she always wanted to kill and destroy him, yet she was also the one who saved him when he was defeated years ago. Not that he would ever thank her for saving him, but why not work with her for now to accomplish similar goals?

"You're even more coldhearted than before, if I recall correctly. Had jealousy and hatred truly changed you completely, Kikyou?" He retorted back. He would still enjoy crushing her later on, just not now.

"You don't have to know that." Kikyou said, staring at him icily. She didn't like him at all, she vowed to crush him by her strength. But a few days before Naraku was defeated, she found out that the spell that brought her back to life had been wearing out, and not even the souls could replenish her. But she refused to die just yet; she didn't get Inuyasha back with her yet. Her only option was to help Naraku; he was the only one able to keep her life going. Without any other plan, she saved him, in return he kept her alive. Now, they were actually helping each other out, but just barely. They had different goals. She wanted Kagome out of her sight, so Inuyasha would go with her to hell. He wanted more, revenge against all those that tried to defeat him. But as long as Inuyasha was safe, she no longer cared what will happen to other people.

"The plan at the castle was successful." Naraku informed Kikyou.

"I don't care about that. All I want is Inuyasha." She replied without any emotion. Even her eyes showed no emotion at all. Naraku smirk sarcastically at her comment.

"What have you been doing lately then?" He asked. Not that he cared, but he didn't want her to make any trouble for his plans to be carried out successfully.

Kikyou kept silent. She had gone to see Inuyasha. She asked him again to go with her. If he agreed, she would never go with the plans of Naraku, and instead she would help them defeat him once more, even though he could keep her alive. But if Inuyasha went with her, then she didn't need to be alive anymore, they would be in hell together, and forever. But Inuyasha denied her offer. Hatred suddenly grew stronger in her emotionless eyes. He left her no choice but to cooperate with this despicable Naraku.

In fact, she knocked Inuyasha out and dragged him away. She knew Kagome saw them; she wanted Kagome to be jealous, to be hurt, and to be suspicious of Inuyasha, so she took Inuyasha away for four days. A victorious smile appeared on Kikyou's face at the sob she remembered Kagome let out behind the tree that day.

"What's next?" Kikyou asked concisely. She had to make sure Naraku wouldn't hurt Inuyasha.

"I've already taken Rin away from Sesshoumaru. I will take away the most precious things from every single one of them!" Naraku snickered. Breaking apart Inuyasha and Kagome would be easy with Kikyou's help. There were Miroku and Sango still. Ah, and Kouga and Ayame, how could he forget? But that wasn't enough, they should suffer even more. After his revenge is successful, he would go on with dominating the world. He was, after all, the strongest demon in the feudal era.

"Well? What will you do next?" Kikyou repeated again impatiently.

"Wait and see how things play out, hahaha…" Naraku snickered. Things went quite well, even luck was on his side. He had no intention of moving on with his plans just yet. Observation would be his priority now. Too much weird things happening at once would only make Inuyasha and his gangs be suspicious of him, if they even know he's still alive.

Kikyou looked at Naraku with disgust. She turned around and left immediately, couldn't stand being near him even just one more second. She never trusted Naraku, even if she was cooperating with him now. She would never forget Naraku actually trying to kill her before. That was the reason she would never let her guard down again when being around this despicable Naraku.

Naraku just glared at Kikyou, thinking of the time he would actually be able to kill her again. He did it before, and he would do it again in the future. But first, he needed her alive. So, he would go find her when he was ready to carry out the next step of his plan…

* * *

Kagome was sitting in her room, looking out the window towards the stars in the night sky. She had been ignoring Inuyasha for two days. He was so… unbelievable! How could he went and hugged Kikyou behind her back, and then disappeared for four days? Four! Didn't he know she was worried sick? 

She had the urge to go back to the future and visit her mother, brother, and grandpa. She missed them so much. She would sure find some comfort and family love back at home, but she couldn't. She had to take care of Rin first. That poor girl, whatever happened to her wasn't good, that much she could tell.

Her big brown eyes wandered towards the table in the room. Then her vision drifted towards the bed. There was only one pillow left on the bed. Inuyasha was chased out of their room yesterday. She had whacked the pillow on his face and pushed him out of the room. She had been married to him one year ago, but Inuyasha called the marriage "mating"… When she first decided to stay in the feudal era, she didn't marry Inuyasha immediately. Instead, they slept in separate rooms, until one year ago. But how could he betray her? Kagome got angry again when her thought drifted back to what she saw the other day: Inuyasha and Kikyou! Argh!

Feeling irritated, she left the room. Kagome walked out of the house and sat down on the grass. But she felt a bit too lonely sitting there by herself. So, she stood up and decided to go visit Rin. Miroku had knocked her out at dusk when Rin totally panicked after seeing Inuyasha. That was a bit strange…

Too deep in thought, Kagome didn't notice a pair of golden eyes staring at her. When she was about to get into the house, a strong arm grabbed her waist and pulled her away. She realized she was being dragged away at a fast speed! Shocked, Kagome started to struggle.

"We need to talk, Kagome." Inuyasha said firmly. Whatever her problems might be, he needed to know and then solve those problems.

"Let me go, Inuyasha!" After realizing it was Inuyasha, she stopped struggling. Observing where he was taking her, she saw they had gotten near a lake. "Don't make me say that special order you must obey!" She growled at him.

"Would you just shut up? I just want to talk!" Inuyasha said irritated. If there really was any problem at all, she should have told him instead of ignoring him for days!

"How can we talk if you want me to shut up?" She challenged him. Then, considering if she said 'sit boy!', she would get dragged down along with Inuyasha and fall flat on her face as well, since he was holding onto her so tightly. Kagome decided not to say that special order, just so she wouldn't hurt herself.

"What is it?" She grunted. She was still too jealous and too sad about what she saw. She just couldn't get the image out of her mind.

Inuyasha finally stopped at the edge of the lake. The surroundings were beautiful, with several firebugs flying around. The sky with bright, shinning stars made the atmosphere here so romantic. Too bad Kagome was puffing and Inuyasha was irritated at the moment to notice the beauty of the lake.

"What exactly is wrong with you since yesterday?" Inuyasha started asking her. He had to find out why she was mad at him, why she wouldn't get some food for him, and why she kicked him out of the bedroom.

"Me? What's wrong with me? You know what you did!" Kagome said angrily. How dare he questioned her like she was the one being at fault?

"I don't know! That's exactly why I'm asking you now!" Inuyasha growled back. He was annoyed that she kept on ignoring him.

"Think about what you did in the forest!" Kagome gave him the hint. Tears swelled up in her eyes again at the thought of the scene she saw in the forest. She was angry at him, felt betrayed, and was very upset and depressing, especially at Inuyasha's disappearance.

"In the forest?" Inuyasha had a confused look on his face. What did he ever do to her in the forest that made her so mad? Mind started to race, searching every corner of his memories.

"And where were you for four days?" Kagome turned around and interrogated Inuyasha. "How could you just disappeared for four days? Don't you know how worried I am?" Angry tears dribbled down her cheeks.

"Four days? So that's how long I've been gone…" Inuyasha mumbled. Even he was confused. How could he be missing for so long, and he didn't even had any memories of that four days? What had he been doing? Was he knocked out somehow? A confused look appeared on his face. He lowered his head and started pondering.

"So you have nothing to say?" Kagome stared at him unbelievably. She turned around abruptly and started walking back towards the village. Inuyasha was too deep in thought that he didn't notice her. When he finally looked up, she was already a couple of feet away from him.

"Hey wait!" Inuyasha hopped quickly towards Kagome. "We didn't even start communicating yet!" He grabbed onto her wrist and stopped her from walking away.

"I thought we are done with our discussion!" She growled at him, and then swung her hand free of his grasp.

"Listen! I don't know where I was for four days! When I woke up, I was in the forest, and I even had to find my way back to the village. Trust me, my mind was all blank, I had no memory at all." He explained to her.

Kagome just stared at him, didn't know whether or not to believe him. How could someone just loose their memory? And not to mention for such a long period of time, four days. But, why would he lie to her though? He had never lie to her before, so that means she should trust him.

The silence made Inuyasha a bit uncomfortable. Did she not trust him? "What? Don't you believe what I said? Lying won't benefit me, you know." He said, looking straight into Kagome's eyes, showing no signs of falter.

Kagome sighed. His golden eyes showed honesty, meaning he was telling the truth. She believed him. But then… what if he was with Kikyou for four days, but was somehow lying to her with his fearless eyes, luring her to believe him? Jealousy began to make Kagome doubt him. "I… believe you… But tell me, do you remember what you did before you lose your memories for four days?" She interrogated him again.

Inuyasha sighed in relief. Kagome believed him, does that mean she's not mad at him anymore? He thought that she was mad at him for disappearing suddenly, but she shouldn't blame him, even he didn't know what happened in those few days. Inuyasha started thinking on Kagome's question again. The last thing he remembered was… Uh oh! He remembered now that she mentioned it! He was… embracing Kikyou! Don't tell him that she saw that!

"Uh… I…" Inuyasha glanced at Kagome every now and then, trying to see if she really saw what he did. But from her reactions since he got back to the village, she probably saw him. No wonder she was so angry at him, and even kicked him out of their room! Problem found, but now he just had to explain to her so the problem could be solved.

"Well?" She rushed him to answer her. She was also tapping her foot to show her annoyance.

"I… was… um… embracing Kikyou…" He answered softly. "But I can explain!" He immediately shouted out.

"Oh yeah? Then go ahead and explain yourself." She said. She wanted to hear his explanations eagerly, and she hoped desperately that it was only a blunder on her part, so she could forgive him and not felt like she was being betrayed.

"Kikyou came that day after we took a walk in the forest. I tried to find you, but you weren't near me, and then she appeared in front of me. She told me that she was dying." Inuyasha explained. "Well, I gave her a _friendly_ hug as a way to say goodbye." He emphasized on the word 'friendly'.

Kagome looked at him with shocked eyes. Kikyou dying? It was really astonishing to hear that since she was gone for years already… Aww, now she felt bad for Kikyou, even though Kikyou had tried to steal Inuyasha away from her before. Kikyou's whole life was a tragedy… Kagome just couldn't harden her heart to hate Kikyou…

"So that's the whole story. Kagome, I told you before, the only one I love is you." Inuyasha's golden eyes shone with adoration.

Tears once again swelled up Kagome's eyes; it wasn't because of sadness, but because of joy and gratitude. She went over and hugged Inuyasha tightly, burying her face into his chest. "I'm so sorry for doubting you…" She mumbled. Now she felt so ashamed of her jealousy.

"It's okay. You're jealous at Kikyou, that's all." A smile appeared on Inuyasha's face. He was glad Kagome got jealous, because that showed how much she cared for him. He didn't mind that at all. Well, except that her ignoring him was really frustrating and annoying. But he was glad everything turned out to be fine.

Inuyasha soothed her by patting her back softly. Everything was back to normal. Kagome wasn't mad at him anymore. Inuyasha smiled at that thought. Just when everything was so quiet and peaceful, a voice popped out of nowhere.

"Are you two done?" A female voice asked. She sounded familiar.

Inuyasha and Kagome both looked around them. They found a shadow in the forest. Inuyasha tensed and put his hand on Tetsusaiga, ready to charge at an enemy.

"Relax, it's me, Ayame." The female wolf demon walked out of the forest towards the couple. There was a disappointed look on her face. She looked kind of lost.

"Hey, Ayame!" Kagome said cheerfully. She broke out of Inuyasha's arms and ran towards Ayame, then gave her a big friendly hug. "Why are you here?"

"Kouga. Is he here?" She asked concisely, and eyeing Kagome suspiciously. She knew Kagome loved Inuyasha, but still, she's jealous that Kouga kept on saying he still like Kagome after all these years. He even dumped her all alone in the forest!

"No. He did come over today, but left before dusk." Kagome said. She didn't know why Ayame appeared here by herself. She knew Ayame liked Kouga, and had been following him for years, but that heartless Kouga only thought she was annoying… Poor girl.

"He said something like 'Where the hell is Ayame' before he rushed off. He seemed worried about you." Inuyasha butted in, not that he really cared about Kouga or Ayame. But then, if Kouga got together with Ayame, then he wouldn't come bother Kagome. That would sure benefit him, Inuyasha thought joyfully.

"… Really?" Ayame asked hesitantly. Would Kouga really be worried about her? A little bit of warmth flooded her heart, but it was quickly covered by doubt. Kouga seemed to hate her so much… Ayame sighed. It took her so long to find this village, but only to find Kouga gone already.

"Believe whatever you want. Hmph." Inuyasha grunted. He then turned to Kagome. "Let's go back to the village." After that, he grabbed Kagome and was about to hop back to the village.

"Wait!" Kagome yelled, stopping Inuyasha's movement. "Ayame, would you like to stay in the village tonight? You can go find Kouga tomorrow morning. Besides, you must be tired." She smiled gently at Ayame, inviting her back to the village.

"Can I… really stay for a night?" She asked carefully. She would hate to trouble others.

"Sure, right Inuyasha?" Kagome turned and looked at her husband.

"Whatever." He answered. It was none of his business to begin with.

"Thanks…" Ayame said. Kagome had been so nice to her, even when the first time they met. Kagome was so kind to her.

Inuyasha hopped swiftly away back to the village, and Ayame followed close behind. She suddenly remembered that she saw Sesshoumaru this afternoon in the forest. Maybe she should tell Inuyasha, just in case Sesshoumaru brought trouble to them. But then, Sesshoumaru's cold warning replayed in her mind…

"_You better not say a word about seeing me here in the forest. Otherwise I'll have to hunt you down."_

Ayame shuddered at the warning. She decided it was better not to tell anyone, even though she was tempted to tell Inuyasha. After all, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were half brothers. Shaking her head, Ayame decided it was still best not to say a word about it, just in case Sesshoumaru was still somewhere near. But speaking of the Lord of the Western Land, why would he be near this village, and sitting there deep in thought? Guess that would be one mystery she will never solve…

* * *

Back in the village, Sango was sitting next to the bed of Rin. Miroku was reading some kind of book besides Sango. They were both worried about Rin. The room was silent, but Rin's mumble broke the peaceful silence. 

Cold sweat soaked her forehead and her shirt. She was frowning and mumbling. Soon, tears flooded out of her close eyes and drifted down her cheeks onto the white pillow. Sango and Miroku just stared at Rin, with worried written all over their face. They listened carefully to Rin's mumble, perhaps they could find some clue of what exactly happened to her.

"Help! Is anyone out there! Let me out!" Rin mumbled. She was re-living that nightmare she had been through in her dream. That dark room with something in there…

"There's something in here! Help! HELP! LET ME OUT!" Rin's voice trembled with fear, but it wasn't a scream.

"Did you hear that? She said there's _something _where she was." Sango asked Miroku.

"Yes. She seemed to be trapped somewhere. But maybe that's just a nightmare…" Miroku said uncertainly. They had no idea what was in Rin's nightmare…

"Lord Sesshoumaru! Help me! Don't leave me in the dark!" Rin mumbled some more. Tears drifted down her pale cheeks.

"She's calling out to Sesshoumaru…" Sango said, a bit taken aback that she would ask a cold, heartless demon for help.

"I guess Sesshoumaru really did protect her. She seemed sort of dependent of him…" Miroku analyzed.

"Let me go… please…" Rin whispered. Her hand was clutching onto the bed sheet tightly, as if she had caught a floating wood in the middle of the ocean.

After that, a long silence returned to the room. Sango and Miroku were both deep in thought. From what they heard so far, it seemed like she was somehow trapped somewhere, and there was _something_ or someone there… And that _something_ got to her… One more thing, she tried to call for Sesshoumaru to help her. That was all they got so far from her mumbling. But, that could just be her nightmare. It doesn't mean they found a clue to what happened to her that caused her wounds.

"No… how could you do this to me?" Rin gasped in shocked with a trembling voice after a long silent. Then, she turned to her side with her back facing them, still sound in her sleep.

Sango and Miroku were confused now. What did Rin's last sentence means? They didn't even get the whole big picture yet, and now Rin mumbled something else… It looked like they couldn't figure out by themselves. They would have to ask Rin about it, but not recently from the way Rin panicked today. They would have to at least wait until she was more stable.

"Poor girl… I really want to know what happened to her so that we could at least try to help her out…" Sango said, looking sadly at Rin.

"We can't figure it out unless she's willing to tell us." Miroku put his hand on Sango's shoulder and pulled her into his arms. They sat there in silent. Then suddenly, Miroku's hand found its way to Sango's butt. Her face quickly turned red. She slapped Miroku on his face and then whacked the book he was reading on his face.

"You're being perverted again!" Sango yelled angrily. How come Miroku just couldn't change his bad habit? Well, at least he was no longer doing that to other women, otherwise she would sure go crazy because of jealousy.

"I couldn't help it…" He said with a red hand mark on his face. "My hand has its own thoughts, it runs around without my permission." He joked.

Sango giggled at his last comment. How could she still be mad at him after he made her laugh? She sighed and shook her head. Looking at Rin, she was glad they didn't wake her up.

"All right, Sango. It's late, you should go get some sleep." Miroku said, pulling her up and pushing her out the door. Sango had been taking care of Rin for the whole day, she must be so tired.

"But someone needs to watch Rin… I'm so worried she might try to hurt herself…" Sango said worriedly. Rin had panicked totally today, it was hard to say she wouldn't hurt herself… Someone must watch over her.

The door was being slid open, and Kaede stood there. She was still wearing the same red pants and white shirt, the costume of a priestess. "Don't worry Sango, I'll take care of her. You should get some rest." Kaede said gently. "You too, Miroku."

"Sure." Miroku said. Sango had something more to say, but Miroku dragged her away. Kaede had no problem taking care of Rin, so they need not worry.

After Miroku and Sango were gone, Kaede closed the door. She walked towards the bed and sat down quietly. She looked at Rin with pity and kindness in her eyes. Even though she didn't know what had happened to this poor girl, but from what Kagome told her, something terrible must have happened. She had a bad feeling about this whole thing… She didn't know why, but she did.

Rin's back was facing Kaede, and her face was facing the wall. She silently opened her eyes. She had been awakened by Sango's angry shout at Miroku being perverted, but she didn't move at all. She was thankful that they helped her out. Her whole body still ached terribly.

Rin's eyes were illuminated by tears. Her eyes weren't focused at all. She just stared blankly at the wall, and her mind was all blank. She was afraid to close her eyes. Once she closed her eyes, memories of that dark room would deluge her mind and drive her crazy. Those horrible memories… She was trapped in that room for the whole night, 'tortured' by that 'thing' the whole night. But even more painful was what she found out the next morning about exactly _what_ was in the room… How could he do this to her? Tears silently soaked the pillow once again, without Kaede knowing it…

* * *

**Note:** Okay, that's it for chapter 5. Kikyou working with Naraku shiver. How did I ever come up with that idea? 

Kagome and Inuyasha got back together.One problem solved. Now Kouga still needs to find Ayame, but it was technically his fault to dump her in the forest in the first place. Yes, we still don't know why Rin was so scared of Inuyasha, but it definitely has to do with the 'thing' that was in the room with her that night. More mystery: what did Rin find out after being trapped with the 'thing' in the room? And what did she mean by "how could you do this to me?"?

Is it clear what happened to Rin that night? It wasn't just that she got wounded, but there's something more horrible… Anyway, please review! I appreciate very much for the reviews! Thanks.


	6. A Good News, A Bad Presumption

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Inuyasha? Really? Okay, okay, fine, I do not own Inuyasha. Happy now?

**Note:** (Kneeling on the floor, sobbing with both hands covering face in shame) Sorry! Sorry! I'm guilty of not updating this story for five months and a few weeks! But I've wasted my entire vacation doing nothing except watching animes and taking plenty of naps… Now that college begins again… NO! But I can't help it… Sorry for the long wait…

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! So, enjoy this new chappie!

* * *

**The Obscure Truth**

Chapter 6

A Good News, A Bad Presumption

* * *

Kagome invited Ayame into the house. She went and prepared the tea for their guest, but Inuyasha went back into their room once they got back, totally ignoring the guest. Ayame sat at the table staring outside into the yard when Miroku along with Sango passed by. They were talking and laughing together like the happiest couple in the whole world. Miroku even had his hand on Sango's shoulder. Ayame looked at them, both hoping Kouga and she could be more like them, and also a bit envious of the sweet relationship Miroku and Sango shared.

When Sango spotted Ayame glancing at them sitting at the table, she blushed a little and stood a little farther from Miroku. It wasn't appropriate to act so close with a man in front of others, that was what she had been taught ever since she was a little girl. Miroku, on the other hand, frowned and walked closer to Sango, attempting to put his hand back on her shoulder and escort her back to her room.

"Miroku! Stop it. We have a guest." Sango whispered a bit harsher than her normal tone. She then put up a smile and walked over to greet Ayame. "Hi Ayame. Why are you here at this time of the night?"

"You're not with Kouga?" Miroku finally saw their guest, but asked a stupid question. Ayame's eyes suddenly got dimmer after hearing what Miroku asked her. For saying the wrong thing, he received a light elbow attack on his stomach from Sango, who was laughing a little nervously.

Sango ceased her nervous light laugh, Miroku eyed Sango playfully after receiving an elbow hit from her, and Ayame was deep in thought. The atmosphere around got pretty weird, and the silence did not help. Good thing Kagome came back from the kitchen with a cup of hot tea.

"Oh hey, Miroku, Sango." Kagome said while putting the tea in front of the gloomy Ayame. "How's Rin?" She looked back up at the couple with a question.

Both Miroku and Sango focused back on Kagome's question. Sango put on a worried face and shook her head with a sigh. "She's sleeping… but is having a nightmare…" She explained with another sigh.

"Yes. She mumbled some stuff, but we can't really figure anything out from that." Miroku added and took a seat opposite of Ayame. Meanwhile, Ayame was just sipping on the cup of tea, still a bit lost in her own thoughts.

"I see…" Kagome mumbled. Suddenly, a feeling of disgust rushed up from her stomach. She rushed back into the sink with a hand covering her mouth. Sango quickly followed her to look after her. Sango arrived at the kitchen seeing Kagome bending down at the sink, seeming to be vomiting, yet nothing came out of her mouth.

"What's wrong, Kagome? Did you eat something bad?" Sango quickly grabbed a cup, filled it up with water, and rushed to Kagome's side, patting her back lightly to make her feel better. After a while, Kagome seemed better and slid down onto the floor, a hand was still covering her mouth. Her face was all pale.

"I don't know…" Kagome whispered weakly. She felt like she was going to vomit, yet she didn't. However, she still felt very uncomfortable. She probably didn't eat anything dirty or bad that might lead to her being sick… unless… She suddenly gasped out of surprise.

"What?" Sango asked, still worried about Kagome. "Are you feeling better?"

"A little…" Kagome bit her lip, deciding whether or not to tell Sango what she just figured out. She had the urge to tell her best friend, but it would be a little embarrassing if she was wrong. "Should I tell you, Sango? But what if I'm wrong…" Kagome stood up with the help of Sango. She received the cup of water from Sango and sipped it a little.

"Tell me what? You can tell me anything and everything, Kagome. If you want it to be a secret, just tell me, I won't tell anyone, not even Miroku." Sango said with a hint of curiosity in her shinning eyes. She had no idea what Kagome might tell her.

"Hmm… how do I put it? Um… I think I know why I suddenly felt so uncomfortable and even thought I was going to vomit…" Kagome uttered with a blush on her face. Even if she was telling Sango, it still made her a bit embarrassed.

"Why, Kagome?" Sango asked with a puzzled look. Then, a thought hit her. She gasped as well, and then a surprised look appeared on her face. At last, she was smiling widely and excitedly at Kagome. "Are you? Are you-"

"Yes! I think I am…" A smile appeared on Kagome's face too. "I might be… pregnant!" Kagome whispered into Sango's ear, the blush still on her face. "I don't know for sure yet… but I might be right…"

"That's great!" Sango exclaimed and hugged Kagome with a really happy smile. "Congratulations, Kagome! That's great news! Let's go tell Inuyasha about it!" Sango, so excited, pulled Kagome along with her as they rushed back out into yard, passing Ayame and Miroku on their way.

"What's going on?" Miroku asked, following them into the yard. A dazed Ayame finally got back to reality from her thoughts, looked at the trio with confusion. All she saw was the two girls rushed passed them, Miroku followed, and the trio raced down the hallway passed the yard. She stood up also, decided to see what was going on.

"Wait, Sango! What if I'm wrong?" Kagome said worriedly. If she tells Inuyasha, he'll be so surprised and joyful. But what if she were wrong? Inuyasha would be very disappointed. Besides, it really was embarrassing for her to tell Inuyasha of the possible happy news. "I should go for an examination first, right Sango?" Kagome asked, trying to force Sango to stop dashing towards Inuyasha and her room.

Miroku followed close behind them with a confused expression. Ayame was just walking way behind them, not very enthusiastic about anything around her. Sango shook her head as an answer to Kagome's question. "You can always go do a check up afterwards. It's okay to be wrong, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." She was way too excited to not tell Inuyasha of the great news.

Just when they were about to reach their destination, Inuyasha slid the door open, glancing at them like they had gone crazy. "What's the big idea? Why are you guys charging towards my room like you are going to attack me?" He said as he took Kagome's hand away from Sango's grasp.

"Inuyasha!" Sango exclaimed excitedly. "I have a good, I mean, Kagome has a good news to tell you!" Sango said and gave Kagome a pushed. Miroku had arrived, standing beside Sango.

"What is it, Kagome?" Inuyasha asked softly. He just succeeded at ceasing Kagome's anger at him a few minutes ago, he had to be more careful with his temper for a while. He sure did not want his lovely wife to get angry at him again.

"Um… Inuyasha… I… might be…" Kagome stuttered as her blush on her cheeks deepened. Inuyasha looked at her with a raised eye-brow, waiting patiently for her to speak. He mentally noted how delicious Kagome looked with her blushed cheek. He had the urge to eat her after they get back to their room, alone, without other people bugging them.

"I might be… pregnant…" Kagome pulled down Inuyasha and whispered into his ear. Her last word was barely audible. Inuyasha's mind just went black for a few minutes with widened eyes. He stood there like a piece of wood, unable to move or react to what Kagome had just told him.

Totally confused, Miroku pulled Sango to the side and asked, "What's going on here? What did Kagome said to Inuyasha? Look at him, he totally froze! He froze! I never know Inuyasha can be frozen by anyone's words before!" Miroku exclaimed quietly like he just saw a monster or a ghost.

With a sweet smile, Sango told Miroku what happened in the kitchen and Kagome's guess. After hearing it, Miroku had the exact same reaction as Inuyasha. Actually, similar reaction, but less dramatic. "Really? That's great!" He yelled out.

Ayame had finally arrived in front of the two pairs of couple. Finally, Inuyasha stared at Kagome and uttered a barely audible word. "Really?"

Kagome nodded her head. "But I'm not a hundred percent sure yet…" She said before Inuyasha yelped an excited sound and hugged her tightly. A huge smile appeared on his face. The news was so unbearably shocking and joyful that he didn't know how to release his contentness!

"That's great, Kagome! That's great!" He finally exclaimed. He gave Kagome a quick kiss on her lips and rushed towards Miroku and Sango. "I'm going to be a father!" He yelled happily, like a little kid. He then went back and pulled Kagome back into a tight hug.

Ayame's eyes went wide at hearing such shocking news. Then, she smiled. Seeing how everyone was way too happy about the good news, resulting in them not noticing her presence, she decided to go outside for a while. Before she left, she glanced at the two pairs of couple and how happy they were. She really longed to spend the rest of her life happily with Kouga, like Kagome and Inuyasha, and Miroku and Sango.

With a sigh, she went out of the house and hopped onto the roof. She lay on the roof and stared into the night sky. The moon was hiding behind dark clouds, but the stars shinned brightly. Closing her eyes, the image of the man she loved entered her mind – Kouga…

* * *

The sun had risen an hour ago. Kaede slid the door open quietly and left the room Rin was in. She had no idea of what happened last night when she was in the room looking after Rin. She just went to the kitchen, starting to prepare breakfast for all. The younger ones usually don't wake up until another hour.

In the room, Rin sat up on the bed with slightly reddened eyes from both lack of sleep and constant crying for the whole night. She moaned a little because of the pain her whole body was feeling. She felt like all her bones had been taken apart, and then put back together.

Quietly, she walked towards the door and slid it open. Suppressing the urge to cry out loud with the pain she was feeling, she moved very slowly down the hallway. She didn't know what she wanted to do, but she wanted to walk around a little bit, to keep her mind off of that horrible memory of that dark night.

Rin stopped in the middle of the hallway, resting her head on the wooden wall. She couldn't move anymore. The pain was eating away her consciousness… Before she passed out again, her falling body was caught by a pair of strong arms. Her vision got very blurry. She managed to glance up at the person who caught her from falling. All she saw was the long silver hair and a pair of blurry golden eyes. She couldn't see his face clearly.

Feeling a pang in her heart, her eyes got watery. "Lord… Sesshou… maru… Why? It… hurts…" She mumbled as her body fell limp, passed out in the arms of Inuyasha, who had just awakened after Kagome got up unusually early for some reasons. He saw Rin wandering in the hallway with a frightening pale face, and was able to catch her in time before she fell down on the floor.

"Hey! Are you okay? Rin?" He shook her body slightly. Then, without much thought of what Rin had uttered, he scooped her up and rushed back into her room. He put her back onto the bed and dashed to find Kaede and Kagome.

He sniffed and located Kagome and Kaede's whereabouts. They were both in the kitchen! Like lightning, he darted and arrived in the kitchen in mere seconds. "Come! Rin has just fainted!" He yelled.

Kaede and Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, and then at each other. Without another word said, they both dropped whatever they were preparing and rushed down the hallway with Inuyasha to check on Rin.

Upon entering the room, Kagome shut the door after pushing Inuyasha out of the room. Taking off Rin's kimono, they saw that several of bandaged wounds seemed to have just re-opened. The white bandage was slowly dyed with a crimson color of blood.

"This is bad. She must have moved around, resulting in her wounds re-opening…" Kaede analyzed as she got to work to stop the bleeding. But suddenly, she felt dizzy as she faltered and steadied herself at the table.

"Are you okay, Kaede?" Kagome asked worriedly as her continue treating Rin's wounds. "You go get some rest, I'll help Rin." She said without wasting any time.

Nodding, Kaede left the room. Outside, Miroku and Sango, with a big bowl of clean water, had assembled, probably because Inuyasha informed them. With a nod, Sango went into the room as Kaede left, locking the door behind her. She rushed to the bed side.

"The wounds…" Sango murmured. "Who could have done such things to Rin?" Sango wondered aloud as she helped Kagome clean up Rin's wounds. The wounds were clearly made by being slashed at by some sort of sharp claws. There were also bruises all over Rin's body. There were also some bite marks along her neck.

"Poor girl…" That was all Kagome could say. After they cleaned the wounds, they bandaged her up again. Covering Rin up with a warm blanket, they left the room with Sango holding the bowl of water. The big bowl of clean water Sango brought into the room was now tainted with crimson color.

All of them went out into the living room and settled down around the desk. After a few minutes of silence, Kagome was the one to break it with a question directed to Inuyasha.

"What happened before, Inuyasha? Do you know how Rin's wounds re-open?" She asked.

"I just woke up and went out of our room, and there she was, standing in the middle of the hallway with her head resting on the wall. Then, she just suddenly fell. Good thing I caught her." Inuyasha explained what had happened before. "Oh, I think when I caught her, she mumbled something like… 'Lord Sesshoumaru, Why? It hurts.' Something like that. She must have mistaken me as my half brother." He added.

"Hmm… I wonder what she means?" Miroku pondered. It could be her wounds hurting her, but he somehow had a feeling it was more than just physical pain. Rin meant something else, but what?

No one answered. After a while of deep thought, Sango looked up.

"I just thought of something… The first time Kagome and I treated Rin's wounds, we didn't notice one thing suspicious about it… We were so caught up at stopping the bleeding that all we saw were the wounds." Sango started and looked at Kagome.

Kagome seemed to realize what Sango was trying to say. "Now that you mention it… The wounds that were bleeding are probably created by sharp claws. But other than the wounds, she also has many bruises all over her body… And also, there are some, um, bite marks along her neck…" Kagome said as she lowered her voice towards the end of the sentence.

After the words sink in, both Inuyasha and Miroku looked at each other, as if trying to see if their guesses of what the two girls had told them were right. Murky expressions covered each and everyone of their faces.

"Last night, when Rin was having a nightmare, she mumbled for Sesshoumaru's help, saying something like let her out and something was in that place where she was." Miroku uttered both to himself and to the others. "Along with the wounds and bruises she has… especially now that you two mentioned bite marks… could it be that she was…" Miroku did not finish the sentence.

By now, they were all lowering their voices, as if afraid Rin might hear them, even though they were far from Rin's room.

"… Tortured by a demon?" Inuyasha finished the sentence for Miroku. Though he wasn't being serious at the moment. Not that he didn't know what the others were implying, but if what he was thinking was correct, that'd be too cruel to a sweet, innocent girl.

Miroku, Sango, and Kagome just stared at Inuyasha. They couldn't laugh at his insensible joke at a time like this. "… Could it be that Rin was, perhaps, … raped?" Miroku managed to complete his own sentence this time.

The mood in the room fell down to below zero degrees Celsius after the "r" word was said by Miroku. All the evidence pointed in that direction, at least for now. Although they hoped that their guess was wrong, they could only hope for there was nothing else they could do at that moment.

"But the weird thing is," Sango suddenly interrupted the silence, "Last night, the last thing Rin said was 'No, how could you do this to me'… Do you think, Rin knew this person who… _hurt_… her?" Instead of using the word raped, she decided to use a less hurtful word.

Just when everyone was thinking hard and seriously, someone's stomach grumbled. They all stared at Kagome's direction. She blushed and laughed nervously. "Uh-haha… that just reminded me, none of us have eaten breakfast yet…" She said as she stood up, ready to go on preparing breakfast.

"What? You mean you are starving our baby?" Inuyasha exclaimed out of nowhere. He stood up abruptly and quickly pushed Kagome into the kitchen. "I'll prepare the food, you just have to eat, that's all." He said as they disappeared into the kitchen.

"Do you even know how to cook breakfast? I'll do it! You'll just end up spoiling ALL of our food!" Kagome's voice could be heard in the kitchen. Sango and Miroku looked at one another. The gloomy mood around here was gradually disappearing because of the small arguments coming from the kitchen.

"You haven't eat, Sango. Let's think about Rin's problems later." Miroku stood up and walked over to Sango. "I'm hungry too, do you mind if I eat… you?" He whispered into her ear, causing her to blush deeply.

Sango slapped Miroku's chest and hurried into the kitchen too. What the hell was Miroku talking about? She didn't even become his wife yet, how could he think of such dirty thoughts? And how could he say it to her in a public place? Even though no one was there, but still, it was very inappropriate…

After everyone left, Miroku decided to follow them into the kitchen and see what they were preparing…

* * *

In the blink of an eye, a gust of whirlwind blew through the forest. The wind disappeared as Kouga stopped by a river to drink some fresh water. He was truly pissed off at the moment. Punching his fist on a tree, he had the urge to beat up someone right away!

"Damn. Where exactly is Ayame?" Kouga uttered to himself angrily. He had only left her in the forest near Inuyasha's house for a while, and then she vanished on him! He had been searching and sniffing for her scent since last evening, and still not a bit of trace of her! He had thought of going back to see if Ayame followed him, and might stay at Kagome's place, but decided against it since he did not pick up any trace of her even when he was right outside of the village. She couldn't possibly be there.

"Bad things better not have happened to her." He mumbled, once again to himself. True, he had told her that she was annoying, and he truly didn't want to be followed every single seconds of his life… But, when she wasn't next to him, nagging at him about his promise to mate her, he felt somewhat not used to it, like she had already been part of his life.

Frowning, he tried to figure out where else could Ayame had went. He didn't know any particular place she liked to go, except _that_ river, the one they passed by when he saved her years ago when she was still young during the night with the giant full moon. Although that river was far, he had also already been there. But to no avail, there wasn't even a single soul at the river.

Did he regret dumping her in the forest and go see Kagome? He would never admit he felt guilty, although he probably did, even if just a little bit. After all, he should have been more careful. He knew all along that Ayame wasn't that strong. Sure, she could protect herself from regular demons, but when she faces a strong demon, like the dead Naraku or Sesshoumaru, she'd be no match to them. The chance of her winning was zilch. So if anything bad were to really happened to her, he would be the one to be blamed, and he would be the one to feel the guilt that he could never atone for his mistake.

Since he was close to his territory, might as well go and check it out. He doubted that she would be there, since those packs of wolves were not under her control, and she would only go there when he went there. As he began running towards his cave with lightning speed, he suddenly smelled the stench of blood.

Following the stench, he came upon several demons' corpse lying around on the ground. They were all apparently dead. Examining the cause of death, Kouga raised his eyebrow. These lowly demons, the ones who ate humans, were all killed by the same demon. The claw marks indicated a strong demon had killed them with one strike. The skins around the wounds were rotting faster, most likely because of poison unleashed along with the claw slash.

Not sympathizing with these lowly demons that preyed on humans, Kouga stepped pass them and went on to his cave. His pack of wolves should be in the cave resting by this time of the day. However, the closer he got to his territory, the stronger another wave of stench filling up his nose. This time, the blood smelled like… his fellow wolves!

His heart skipped several beat as he picked up his speed once again. He arrived in front of his cave with several wolves lying on the ground, all heavily wounded. Before he had time to examine his wolves' wounds and the surroundings, he picked up a faint trail of a demon… He knew this smell, although not very familiar though. This smell belonged to the dangerous demon lord, Sesshoumaru!

In a mere second, he vanished again, only leaving a gust of winds shaking the grasses…

* * *

On his way back to his castle, Sesshoumaru released his anger on those stupid demons attempting to devour his power. Those demons, so despicable, dare attempt to kill him? Idiots. He, the great Sesshoumaru, cannot be harmed by such low lives. Them showing up at the right time gave him an excuse to kill. He slashed at them with rage not directed towards those demons, but the rage from his heart of not able to find his missing Rin.

He hadn't return to his castle yet since he came out in hope of finding Rin. How could such a fragile girl just vanish? He was sure she couldn't run too far from his lands… Unless with the help of others. But he doubted that, since Rin practically had no friends except Jaken.

Sesshoumaru suddenly tensed, getting into his alarm mode, as he sensed a presence of a powerful demon. Of course, this demon was no match compared to him. However, he never takes his enemies lightly, even though he always had his placid expression on his face. It would be stupid to be careless and then get your life taken by some low life.

Accompanying a gust of whirlwind, Kouga appeared in front of Sesshoumaru with his fuming eyes. Sesshoumaru stood there, with his right hand holding onto Tokijin, ready to draw the sword. His face as placid and bored as ever as he eyed the raging Kouga in front of him. A wolf demon that he had seen before, Sesshoumaru noted.

"Get out of my way before I kill you." Sesshoumaru commanded with a forceful voice. If this wolf demon wanted to die, he would gladly grant him death.

"You killed my comrades, didn't you?" Kouga roared. It was the only reason why Sesshoumaru would appear around his cave anyway, at least he believed so. "There's the smell of blood all over you." He said, even though there was no trace of blood on Sesshoumaru's pure white, elegant kimono.

"Hmph." Sesshoumaru grumbled. "I have no need to kill you fellow wolf comrades. But I will admit that I killed all those low lives in the forest." After finishing his sentence, he moved forward, attempt to be on his way back to his castle. If this wolf dare block him any further, he wouldn't mind sending him to hell.

Kouga looked at Sesshoumaru suspiciously. "So it was your doing in the forest." Sesshoumaru walked closer and closer to him by this time. He could sense the killing aura around Sesshoumaru, and understood that if he still refuses to move, he'd no doubt be killed by the Lord of the Western Land. Quickly, but carefully, Kouga studied the blood stench surrounding Sesshoumaru. After careful inspection, he realized that those blood stenches in fact did not belonged to his pack of wolves.

Realized that he made a mistake, Kouga stepped to a side. There was no way that he would apologize to the iceberg in front of him, so Kouga decided to rush back to his cave to tend his wounded wolves. He promised to track down the killer, or at least attempt killer, and avenge for his dead and wounded comrades!

Sesshoumaru continued on his journey back home as if the little episode of a possible big fight between him and Kouga did not exist. His mind only went back to Rin, who he had considered a ward in the past, yet not anymore, no matter how reluctant he was to admit his own feelings…

* * *

**Note:** There, a new chapter finished. Aww.. college just started! NO! Now I have no time to do anything I wanted to… So, again, like I said, college just started. I have a lot more work-load, at least for now I suspect from all the works I have already received in my first two days of school. That means, I have even less time to write. Don't expect the next chapter to be out anytime soon. Although I will try to update as soon as I have time… Please be patient, and sorry about that. Now, on with the review… 


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